2020 Halloween Challenge

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Necromancy, 1972 (A witchcraft film)

This one's been on my radar for a while now, and while I thought it was a bit slight, I did quite enjoy it.

The film opens with the main character, Lori, awakening from a childbirth gone wrong. As she pleads with the doctor to know where her baby is, he coldly tells her "You can have another baby" before having her sedated.

In the aftermath of the loss of her baby, Lori's husband, Frank, gets a new job in a town called Lillith and the couple makes plans to move there. Lori is immediately wary of the questions asked by the interviewers--are they athiests?--and their interest in her specifically. Things only get stranger once they arrive in the town. The entire citizenry lives under the thumb of a man named Mr. Cato (Orson Welles). Cato lost his own child years earlier, and he's basically converted the entire town to witchcraft in an effort to resurrect his boy.

As she navigates various strange social encounters, Lori grows more and more concerned about the role that she is expected to play in what is to come.

So I said that the film is very slight, and it is. There's very little compelling action, and much of the film is dominated by ominous, slightly vague conversations between Lori and the townspeople. The mystery of whether Frank is in on the whole thing or just a really, really bad husband hangs over the movie. There are also moments every now and then that do hint at something very sinister, such as when a woman breaks the town rule against having children (no one is allowed to have children until Cato's son is restored) and is punished via witchcraft.

While there wasn't much pulse-quickening action, I did think that the film did a good job of showing the mundane horror of living in a community where you are isolated and just slowly pressured into doing what others want. Lori has almost no agency (though at times I wanted to scream at her to just call a cab and leave the town and Frank in her dust), and the person she expects to be her ally, Frank, often belittles her or plays down her concerns. Considering the trauma of losing her child was so recent, I felt it was believable that Lori would not have the gumption to leave her husband and try to escape on her own.

The ending itself is somewhat powerful and has some interesting imagery. I did feel that the whole thing ended on a bit of a mixed note. There's an element of ambiguity (trying to stay vague here!) that I sort of liked and sort of found frustrating.

I'd give this one a tepid recommendation. It's on Amazon Prime.



The trick is not minding
So far my results are as follows:

A. Source Material
1. A Stephen King Adaptation
2. An Edgar Allen Poe Adaptation
3. An HP Lovecraft Adaptation

B. Language of Origin
4. A Spanish Language horror film
5. A French Language horror film
Les Diaboliques
6. An Asian Language horror film
7. An Eastern European/Slavic Language horror film

C. Time Period
8. A Classic Creature Feature (30's-50's)
9. A Gothic Horror Tale (40's-60's)
10. The B-List Killer/Slasher (70's-80's)
Deep Red
11. A Sex Thriller (80's-90's)
12. A Revival/Remake/Throwback (00's-10's)

D. The Players(Actors/Actresses/Directors/Producers)
13. A Brian De Palma/William Castle/Wes Craven film
14. A Linnea Quigley/Jamie Lee Curtis/Barbara Steele film
15. A Peter Cushing/Vincent Price/Christopher Lee film
16. A Lucio Fulci/Dario Argento/Mario Bava film
City of the Living Dead
17. A Alfred Hitchcock/Terence Fisher/Christopher Smith film
18. An A24/Blumhouse/Roger Corman/Hammer/Universal film

E. Distributor
19. A Rotten Horror Film from Rotten Tomatoes
Feardotcom
20. A Fresh Horror Film from Rotten Tomatoes
21. A Horror Film on Shudder
22. A Horror Film on Hulu
23. A Horror Film on Amazon
Razorback
24. A Horror Film on Netflix
Under the Shadow
25. A Horror Film from 2020

F. Genre
26. A Werewolf Film
27. A Vampire Film
28. A Ghost/Haunted House Film
29. A Witchcraft/Satanic Film
30. A Frankenstein's Monster Film
31. A Zombie Film
Making more of a push into this starting tonight and continuing throughout the week.





Silent Hill: Revelation, 2012 (A "rotten" movie from RT)

This movie was almost exactly what I expected it to be: a series of set-pieces loosely woven together with a plot that makes just enough sense to be passable.

I've seen the first film, and so this one involves Sharon and her father on the run, with her mother trapped back in Silent Hill. Sharon is soon drawn back to Silent Hill when her father is taken.

The only real interest I had in this film were the horror set-pieces. The movie delivers okay on this front. The creature designs are memorable and shocking, but sometimes dinged by the too-smooth CGI look.

The acting is probably better than this film deserves, with Sean Bean, Kit Harington, Carrie-Ann Moss, Radha Mitchell, Deborah Unger, Martin Donovan, and Malcom McDowell all chipping in. Adelaide Clemons is fine in the lead role, but the script has a lot of her just delivering exposition to herself ("There are twelve of them!" she exclaims to herself . . . for no reason).

I never totally understood the mythology of Silent Hill, and the various attempts in the movie to explain it didn't stick. Fractured personalities? A cult? Magic? Nurses who make orgasm noises when they try to stab you? Frankly, I didn't expend much brain power trying to make sense of it all.

Not a good movie by any means, but a passable piece of horror movie junk food with handful of enjoyable set pieces.






Lady Frankenstein, 1971 (A Frankenstein film)

Baron Frankenstein's daughter, Tania, returns home having become a doctor and a surgeon. She discovers that her father is up to his old tricks, stealing corpses to create a man. But the creation isn't so happy to be reanimated, and kills Frankenstein. Tania and Frankenstein's assistant team up to figure out a way to defeat the monster.

I mean, meh. There are some low-budget, trashy delights to this movie. Joseph Cotten slumming it as Baron Frankenstein, for one. For another, there is a repeated sequence of the monster interrupting couples while they are having sex. In one nonsensical nod to the original film, the creature picks up a naked women and inelegantly dumps her in a body of water. In the original, the creature was emulating throwing flowers in the water. In this movie . . . there's no reason for it. It's just not clever enough, and that kind of sums up the whole film. I was also none-too-impressed with the portrayal of a disabled servant, whose body Tania covets to make her own monster.

Not the worst way to spend 90 minutes. It does have an abrupt ending, to the point of being comically jarring.




Alright time to catch up...sports are done for me this month so now I'm going to catch up today.








October 5th - An Eastern European/Slavic Language horror film


Wrekmeister Harmonies(2000)...this was a film that took me three days to get through....I'm going to be honest with you I hated this. I know it's a classic but I couldn't follow the plot...it dragged on forever and it didn't scare me in the least. A circus comes to town with a giant whale and the whale turns people crazy or something...who knows. Each scene felt like it drug on forever and then when the characters left you never saw them again.



I knew I had to watch this because it shows up on lists here but yeah I regretted it.











October 6th - 30. A Frankenstein's Monster Film


Frankenstein Created Woman(1967) is my favorite Frankenstein horror film from Hammer. What makes this so good is that it takes the characters on an entirely different direction. This is the story of a boy who loses his father in a graphic guillotining scene who then grows up and falls in love with a disfigured woman. When her father is killed Han's is set up and we eventually get a new monster. I won't spoil all the twists but this turns into a revenge slasher. The effects are great and the lead performance from Susan Denberg is outstanding. You've also got something creepy and unsettling about the story that really sticks with you.









October 7th - 18. An A24/Blumhouse/Roger Corman/Hammer/Universal film


This is Terrence Fisher's penultimate film and it's a doozy Frankenstein Must be Destroyed(1969) is a huge departure from the character and the series and frankly...it's awesome. This is Cushing's darkest version of the doctor and it really works. He was kind of the villain in the first two films but he never really went over the top with it. You could always kind of relate and the story always had somebody worse in it....Cushing is the bad guy here.


The makeup...set pieces and effects are all top notch...likely the best of the series but what makes this so good is that it still feels like it belongs in the series. You don't get the sense that this film was made 10 years later from the start of the series, you can watch them all in one grouping and still enjoy them.





So week 1
So far my results are as follows:

7. An Eastern European/Slavic Language horror film
8. A Classic Creature Feature (30's-50's)
15. A Peter Cushing/Vincent Price/Christopher Lee film
18. An A24/Blumhouse/Roger Corman/Hammer/Universal film
19. A Rotten Horror Film from Rotten Tomatoes
23. A Horror Film on Amazon
30. A Frankenstein's Monster Film





I See You, 2019 (A horror film on Amazon)

The film begins with the bizarre disappearance of a young boy on a bicycle. We then meet the family of the lead detective on the case (Jon Tenney), learning that his wife (Helen Hunt) has just ended an extramarital affair and is dealing with the fallout from her husband and son, Conner. The family's story and the kidnapping plot share time, but soon strange sounds and occurrences in the house add another layer of stress and strangeness.

Despite a few quibbles that would be highly spoiler-y, I actually really enjoyed this film. I've heard not a single word about it from anyone! I will say that in terms of the horror spectrum, this one leans more toward the thriller/crime side of things. Still, it had several plot developments that I did not see coming. The film deftly switches between different points of view, using perspective and audience assumptions to periodically pull the rug out from under your understanding of the story.

I was surprised to see the film's relatively high IMDb score (a 6.8), but I can totally see why it's rated that high. It is solidly made, solidly acted, and it has several memorable sequences and images. And with the scares being more conceptual than gory, it could also be a good movie for people who want a horror movie but not too much blood and guts.

I can easily recommend this one.




A system of cells interlinked
Been slammed at work. Barely have time to actually watch the films, let alone pop in here to post thoughts about each. I have been getting the films in, though! I am updating my list as I go, and will hopefully be able to do at least a few posts about various flicks soon...
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



Every year I give myself a theme for October and this year I chose Edgar Allan Poe. So I'm not gonna be able to meet some of these categories (you wouldn't want me to abandon this completely-arbitrary thing I'm making myself follow, would you?) Also, the "must be a first-watch" rule is limiting my entries. But still there's some overlap so I'll submit whatever I've got that fits.


7. An Eastern European/Slavic Language horror film
Masque of the Red Death (1969)

Sort of cheating here, since there's technically no dialogue, but this is an animated short from Croatia. Limited animation, sort of reminiscent of Rene Laloux, with excellent art direction and as you can see, creepy as hell.

Loved it, highly recommended for animation fans. It's on Youtube but I can't post links yet.
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Captain's Log
My Collection




18. A Universal film
The Black Cat (1941)

Ugh. One of the million or so "reading of the will" murder mysteries that were made in this era. Despite the presence of Lugosi and Rathbone, this one was just annoying. There's comic relief and then there's literally-ruin-every-scene-with-a-flat-joke. This one is the latter. Oh, and the only connection to Poe is that a cat exists and Poe's name is in the credits. Been trying to find this for years so this was quite a letdown.



Every year I give myself a theme for October and this year I chose Edgar Allan Poe. So I'm not gonna be able to meet some of these categories (you wouldn't want me to abandon this completely-arbitrary thing I'm making myself follow, would you?) Also, the "must be a first-watch" rule is limiting my entries. But still there's some overlap so I'll submit whatever I've got that fits.


7. An Eastern European/Slavic Language horror film
Masque of the Red Death (1969)

Sort of cheating here, since there's technically no dialogue, but this is an animated short from Croatia. Limited animation, sort of reminiscent of Rene Laloux, with excellent art direction and as you can see, creepy as hell.

Loved it, highly recommended for animation fans. It's on Youtube but I can't post links yet.
I got you, bro.




Victim of The Night
October is a week away and I thought we would open up a discussion and see if anyone wanted to watch 1 horror film for each day of October.


Now if anyone wants to I can also do what Jabs does and give you 31 categories to expand your palette.
Howdy.
I just joined from the recently deceased Corrierino and I was doing a thread of the minimum 31 Horror movies I watched this month.
I am 20 Horror movies in now so I'm on track for 35-45 movies.
I'm happy to talk about them here.



Victim of The Night
For "Lovecraft Adaptation", so far this month I have watched The Unnamable, From Beyond, and Re-Animator.

For "Spanish Language", Rec.
For "Slavic Language", Viy.

"Classic Creature Feature", so far, has been Murders In The Rue Morgue (intelligent ape) and House Of Frankenstein (Frankenstein monster, Wolfman, Dracula cameo).

For "Gothic Horror", I'm thinking the abysmal Scars Of Dracula probably counts.

For "Linnea Quigley", I did Night Of The Demons.

"Blumhouse", Ouija: Origins Of Evil. It was so-so.

"Vampire Film", Blood And Donuts, which I actually liked a good bit. (Obviously, there was also Scars Of Dracula and House Of Frankenstein, mentioned already above).

There's some overlap with a lot of these categories and what I've seen so far.
I have the whole list at home, I'll post the rest later.

Double-Feature on-deck tonight.



Victim of The Night



October 2nd 8. A Classic Creature Feature

The Curse of Frankenstein(1957) fills a number of boxes as it's the start of the Hammer series... It's a bit different from the earliest Frankenstein stories in that Hammer gives Victor much more character...he's not a cartoon like he is the James Whale version. This is almost more of a drama than anything else but it still has pretty good production values.

Igor is basically replaced in this film with a protagonist and I kinda liked it. It was a different take and it gave the climax of the film a different sort of impact. Christopher Lee is almost a cameo role but less is more with this one. In the end I think I'm going to continue with the series for this month and see where it goes.

Sorry, I'm obviously a couple weeks behind but, was this your first of the Hammer Frankenstein series?



Victim of The Night
OCT 2nd

Silver Bullet




An adaptation of a Stephen King short, we see Corey Haim scoot around in a motorized wheelchair as a werewolf terrorizes his small town. This is a classic 80's effects horror film, one of the better Stephen King adaptations and comical in just the right amount of places. I'll take this werewolf picture over The Howling any day.

The film is narrated by the sister, despite most of the movie being from the brother's perspective. Starring Corey Haim, Terry O'Quinn, Everett McGill and Gary Busey, the cast seems to be self-aware of the material and has fun with it. At one point the film becomes a whodunnit style investigation. Once the reveal takes place, dread sets in.

I think Scream took from this film's "one last scare" ending. It mirrors it so well it's hard to imagine it wasn't done on purpose. Silver Bullet feels underrated in the werewolf sub-genre, I don't hear too many people talking about it, but it has some good things to offer.
The church-scene alone is worth watching the whole movie.
The novella is great, I read it about a year before the movie came out.



Victim of The Night
I must say I enjoyed Deep Red, fulfilling the 70’s-80’s slasher slot.
I’m not sure if it’s better then Suspiria, as I need to rewatch Suspiria. It sheen over 30 years and I was but a child who didn’t understand camera style and such. It’ll almost be like watching it for the first time really.
I’m using this time to watch a few other films from Argento as well.
Tomorrow, though, I’ll dedicate my time to Les Diaboliques.
I also finally watched this for the first time as my last movie of September (in preparation for October) and I was really, really impressed. Like all Argento movies (with the possible exception of Suspiria), it's not perfect, but man is it packed full of awesome moments and visual pleasures.



Richard Jewell (2019)

Interesting film on the harassment and suspicion that the Security Guard Richard Jewell had to undergo after the Atlanta Olympic bombing in 1996. It's a very staright narrative and unshowy film which, I think, suits the subject matter...just because a guy was seen as "different" the FBI and Press corralled all their powers in hounding him.

Good direction from Clint and good performances by all the leads.