2024 Halloween Challenge

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Well we are a week away from October so it's time to unveil the annual Halloween Challenge. The rules are simple for the month of October you watch 31 horror films, horror is used lightly if you want to use Giallo's or Thrillers that's fine by me. The second part of the challenge is to fit the films under the categories...I try and mix up new ones every year so you have a distinct look. You also don't have to do these on the specific days...and you couldn't anyways because the first category is.


A. Pay Attention - Watch a Film that was viewed/recommended in this thread
  • Day 1

B. Double Feature - Watch a pair of films from the Same Horror Director
  • Day 2
  • Day 3
C. In the Neighborhood, Watch three films that come from nations that share borders (or are next to each other i.e. (Japan/South Korea/Philippines, UK/France/Italy, Canada/US/Mexico)
  • Day 4
  • Day 5
  • Day 6
D. It's that Special Time...watch a film from 1, 10, 25, and 50 years ago

  • Day 6 - A Film from 2023
  • Day 7 - A Film from 2014
  • Day 8 - A Film from 1999
  • Day 9 - A Film from 1974
E. Free Time - Pick a decade and watch 5 films from that decade
  • Day 10
  • Day 11
  • Day 12
  • Day 13
  • Day 14
F. Dive into a Genre- Pick any sub-genre of Horror and watch 5 films from said genre. This could be Vampires, Serial Killers, Haunted House films, monster movies...just pick something and have fun.
  • Day 15
  • Day 16
  • Day 17
  • Day 18
  • Day 19

G. Critical "Darlings" Watch a film that is excellent, very good, good, and bad films based on any popular review/aggregate site.
  • Day 20 - Watch a film that is 90 or higher on RT/Metacritic/IMDB
  • Day 21 - Watch a film that is 75-90 on RT
  • Day 22 - Watch a film that's between 40-74
  • Day 23 - Watch a film that is lower than 40%

H - 31 words Inception - over the course of 8 films reach 31 words with the titles of said film. So if you pick Carrie than the next 7 films have to make up 30 words...If you pick Shriek if you know what I did last Friday the 13th then you'll only have 20 words left for 7 films. The point is to hit 31
  • Day 24
  • Day 25
  • Day 26
  • Day 27
  • Day 28
  • Day 29
  • Day 30
  • Day 31



A system of cells interlinked
I was also waiting for this.

As I mentioned in the Rate Your Film thread, I am planning on cheating on this years countdown, due to the fact that I have a 5 year-old daughter that makes watching horror films every day extremely tough. So, we have already started watching! I plan on counting all the films I watch in October, as well as the ones I have watched in the last two weeks of September.

So, starting out with a big asterisk next to my list!
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



The trick is not minding
Saved for progress:


A. Pay Attention - Watch a Film that was viewed/recommended in this thread
  • Day 1 Spider Baby

B. Double Feature - Watch a pair of films from the Same Horror Director
  • Day 2
  • Day 3
C. In the Neighborhood, Watch three films that come from nations that share borders (or are next to each other i.e. (Japan/South Korea/Philippines, UK/France/Italy, Canada/US/Mexico)
Austria/Germany/Denmark
  • Day 4 Angst
  • Day 5
  • Day 6
D. It's that Special Time...watch a film from 1, 10, 25, and 50 years ago

  • Day 6 - A Film from 2023
  • Day 7 - A Film from 2014
  • Day 8 - A Film from 1999
  • Day 9 - A Film from 1974
E. Free Time - Pick a decade and watch 5 films from that decade
1970’s
  • Day 10 The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue
  • Day 11 Baron Blood
  • Day 12 The Zodiac Killer
  • Day 13
  • Day 14
F. Dive into a Genre- Pick any sub-genre of Horror and watch 5 films from said genre. This could be Vampires, Serial Killers, Haunted House films, monster movies...just pick something and have fun.
Hong Kong Jiangshi sub genre (hopping vampires)
  • Day 15
  • Day 16
  • Day 17
  • Day 18
  • Day 19

G. Critical "Darlings" Watch a film that is excellent, very good, good, and bad films based on any popular review/aggregate site.
  • Day 20 - Watch a film that is 90 or higher on RT/Metacritic/IMDB
    The Mummy (1959)
  • Day 21 - Watch a film that is 75-90 on RT
  • Day 22 - Watch a film that's between 40-74
  • Day 23 - Watch a film that is lower than 40%
    Ghost House

H - 31 words Inception - over the course of 8 films reach 31 words with the titles of said film. So if you pick Carrie than the next 7 films have to make up 30 words...If you pick Shriek if you know what I did last Friday the 13th then you'll only have 20 words left for 7 films. The point is to hit 31
  • Day 24 The Giant Gila Monster.
  • Day 25
  • Day 26
  • Day 27
  • Day 28
  • Day 29
  • Day 30
  • Day 31



A. Pay Attention - Watch a Film that was viewed/recommended in this thread/forum

Day 1: In a Glass Cage (1986)



I chose a movie for day 1 that was recommended in another thread, since there isn't any here yet.

On that note, I highly recommend...

Crazies, The (1973)
It Follows (2014)
Perfect Blue (1997)
Spider Baby (1967)



The trick is not minding
I chose a movie for day 1 that was recommended in another thread, since there isn't any here yet.

On that note, I highly recommend...

Crazies, The (1973)
It Follows (2014)
Perfect Blue (1997)
Spider Baby (1967)
Seen the first 3 so it’ll be Spider Baby for me.

As for my recommendations….I’ll go with:

When Evil Lurks (2023)
In A Violent Nature (2024)
Kill, Baby, Kill! (1966)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
The Wizard of Gore (1970)



B. Double Feature - Watch a pair of films from the Same Horror Director

Day 2: The Vampire Brides (1970)



October 1st - The Substance (2024)
Watch a film that is 90 or higher on RT/Metacritic/IMDB





The Substance is the story of a woman being confronted by her own mortality. Demi Moore plays a former Oscar winner who is turning 50 and she's lost her job as a media aerobics instructor. She's then given an offer to be young again provided she has to give one week to herself for every week she's young. Margaret Qualley plays the perfect younger version of Demi Moore.

This film is well over 2 hours and it really only has three actors...with Dennis Quad playing a Hollywood exec who is on all the cocaine. I enjoyed the film for the majority of the run time...it kinda falls off the cliff for the last 30 minutes where it becomes Cartoonish. The horror elements work very well in the early part of the film...less is more. But the film is worth checking out and making your own mind up about it.





A system of cells interlinked
Time to get things started!!

A. Pay Attention - Watch a Film that was viewed/recommended in this thread/forum
Day 1 - Loop Track

B. Double Feature - Watch a pair of films from the Same Horror Director - Tobe Hooper
Day 2 - Poltergeist
Day 3 - Salem's Lot (1979)

C. In the Neighborhood, Watch three films that come from nations that share borders (or are next to each other i.e. (Japan/South Korea/Philippines, UK/France/Italy, Canada/US/Mexico)
Day 4 - Come True (Canada)
Day 5 - A Quiet Place: Day One (USA)

D. It's that Special Time...watch a film from 1, 10, 25, and 50 years ago

Day 6 - A Film from 2023 - No One Will Save You
Day 7 - A Film from 2014 - The Houses that October Built
Day 8 - A Film from 1999 - The Mummy
Day 9 - A Film from 1974 - Black Christmas

E. Free Time - Pick a decade and watch 5 films from that decade - 2020s
Day 10 - Double Blind
Day 11 - It's What's Inside
Day 12 - V/H/S/ Beyond
Day 13 - Alien: Romulus
Day 14 - Fall

F. Dive into a Genre- Pick any sub-genre of Horror and watch 5 films from said genre. This could be Vampires, Serial Killers, Haunted House films, monster movies...just pick something and have fun. - SLASHER
Day 15 - In a Violent Nature
Day 16 - Friday the 13th (1980)
Day 17 - Scream (1996)
Day 18 - April Fool's Day (1986)
Day 19 - Friday the 13th Part 3

G. Critical "Darlings" Watch a film that is excellent, very good, good, and bad films based on any popular review/aggregate site.
Day 20 - Watch a film that is 90 or higher on RT/Metacritic/IMDB - Strange Darling
Day 21 - Watch a film that is 75-90 on RT - The First Omen
Day 22 - Watch a film that's between 40-74 - Haunt
Day 23 - Watch a film that is lower than 40% - Blair Witch (2016)

H - 31 words Inception - over the course of 8 films reach 31 words with the titles of said film. So if you pick Carrie than the next 7 films have to make up 30 words...If you pick Shriek if you know what I did last Friday the 13th then you'll only have 20 words left for 7 films. The point is to hit 31

31
Day 24 - Oddity
Day 25 - Late Night With The Devil
Day 26 - Speak No Evil
Day 27 - Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor
Day 28 - Evil Dead Rise
Day 29 - Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
Day 30 - Talk to Me
Day 31 - Hellraiser

Films without a slot, but still watched in OCT

Poltergeist II - The Other Side
Night of the Demons
The Gate
Kill, Baby...Kill!
REC - 2
Trick-r-Treat
Halloween (1978)
V/H/S/85
Cuckoo
Immaculate
Longlegs



October 2nd - Azrael (2024)
Watch a film that's between 40-74





A film that really tries to take a different approach to religious horror. In this future the rapture has occurred and survivors live in the woods and are mute. So you get very little exposition for this creatures in the woods type film. A woman and man escape the cult and are now being hunted..they also have to worry about demons (that look pretty good) but also the film is told over the course of a day so it does the thing where you can't see stuff for half the film.

The good news is the film moves as a break neck pace so even though you aren't getting anything new other then the setup it's less than 90 minutes long. The bad news is the gimmick kinda puts you to sleep along with the bad cinematography. Still I enjoyed it



Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)



A system of cells interlinked
I am already 11 days in, and it's only October 3rd. This time travel stuff is awesome! :P

Just added Speak No Evil to my list.



B. Double Feature - Watch a pair of films from the Same Horror Director


Day 2: Vampire Lovers (1970)
Day 3: Asylum (1972)
Roy Ward Baker



C. In the Neighborhood, Watch three films that come from nations that share borders (or are next to each other i.e. (Japan/South Korea/Philippines, UK/France/Italy, Canada/US/Mexico)

Day 4: Bedevilled (2010, South Korea)
Day 5: Heirloom (2005, Taiwan)



October 3rd- Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(2007)
31 words Inception (8/31)





Often times I feel like we overlook Tim Burton's mid level work. The focus always seems to be on his generational classics or his misfires. You would think he's made dozens of films but he's only made 20 and this was his Oscar contender and revisiting it...it wasn't half bad. This tells the story of a barber sent away from his wife and child bu a corrupt judge (Alan Rickman). The barber returns and throws in with a shoppe keep in Helen Bonhem Carter who needs meat for her pies.

The film works as a bit of a pallet cleanser for the serious horror films one typically watches. This is a musical and it's fun not in a hum along with the songs sort of way but it was still enjoyable. The thing that stands out the most to me is the Art Direction. You forget how good the era of little CGI was when it was mixed with practical effects. The entire film just gives you that look that you are going to have a sinus infection from the dust.

Burton's style was really well suited for this in the sense that it felt like a Burton film but not to the point of distraction is was still it's own thing. This movie is such a great outlier in horror it was nice to revisit it. I think it looks better today after 20 years of crappy FX and bloated runtimes to just enjoy a two hour musical horror epic.



Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)
Day 3 - Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)



October 4th - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)
31 words Inception (14/31)




What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is the start of the Aldrich old lady horror trilogy and it's easily the most famous. Pairing Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as a pair of rival child actors/sisters living alone in a secluded Los Angeles home. It's fascinating to see this film through modern eyes as the issues of co dependence, mental illness, depression and issolation hit much harder today than they likely did when the film first came out.

Aldrich is an incredible filmmaker, his eye for visuals is top notch and elevates the film that could turn very quickly into schlock. But the star of the film is Bette Davis who received her final oscar nomination for her work. I'm very curious if a film like this can/should get a remake/update to up the gore as everything seems to get a remake.



Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)
Day 3 - Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Day 4 - Whatever happened to Baby Jane (1962)



Victim of The Night
  • Day 9 - A Film from 1974 - Dead Of Night/Deathdream
I won't make the 31 because of my process but I thought I'd add any overlaps I have.



A system of cells interlinked
I'm going to start populating this thread with some of the reviews for films I am watching for the challenge, after all. If just to generate a bit more traffic in the thread.

A film from 2014

The Houses October Built

Roe, 2014





Watched this to fill the in the 2014 requirement in the Halloween challenge. I had seen this around the time of release, and it's one of those films I ended up conflating with several others of its ilk. I read up a bit about the film this time around, and this was originally a straight doc to be released in 2011 about various haunts around the country, couldn't get proper distro, and was retooled into its current state for a 2014 release. I believe the original cut is kicking around out there somewhere, but I haven't seen it.

It's fine for what it is, but a bit boring on the whole. It has a few tense scenes, but offers very little in the way of surprises, mostly due to the silly decision to attach a piece of the final scene to the start of the film, revealing where it is all headed right away.

Is it a total dud? No. One of the weaker films I have watched this season? For sure.



A system of cells interlinked
Evil Dead Rise

Cronin, 2023





This flick got quite a bit of positive press, and my wife loves stuff like this, so we fired this up to continue along on our 31 films in 31 days challenge. I enjoyed the 2013 reboot well enough, which was basically a scene for scene remake of Raimi's original that added gallons of blood to the affair. I thought it was good, but not great - it stripped away a lot of the charm and roguish creativity of the original. That said, it's several orders of magnitude better than Evil Dead Rise.

The cold open has us in a familiar setting: a few teens or perhaps college-aged kids hanging out at a cabin in the woods. We are treated so several wink-wink callbacks to the first film to let us know we are in the Evil Dead universe. Look, this whole meta style that pervades many of today's films is getting tiresome. I have half a rant formulated in my head concerned this much larger and massively widespread problem, but I will save that for a later date or perhaps an essay. Anyway, without any background whatsoever, one of the characters is possessed. This is without even a single scene with this character, and she is asleep at the time with her back turned, so we haven't even seen her face yet. Mayhem ensues, people die and then a title card slams down saying "One Day Earlier." I am not a huge fan of this structure, but whatever, I guess it's time to see how these characters ended up in a cabin in the woods with a deadite.

Nope. Instead we are introduced to a different family living in a dilapidated building in LA - a building in such bad shape it is scheduled to be condemned - with everyone living there set to be evicted soon. After some sort of silly scenes of exposition and a minor earthquake, one of the kids ends up finding the Necronomicon in an abandoned bank (???), along with some dusty vinyl records. Of course, the kid is a DJ, so he pilfers the vinyl and the book, which bite him and causes him to bleed on the cover, starting an ancient blood ritual (lol). After reading the book and getting totally freaked out by the imagery, he does what any bright youngster would do, he tosses the demonic vinyl on the record player. Haven't these kids ever seen a horror movie?

The film foregoes building any tension or suspense, instead just cranking things up to 11 right away with scene after scene of ultraviolence, much of it perpetrated on young children. Aside from the deadite makeup, this film stops feeling like an Evil Dead film very quickly, instead plunging into slick, overproduced generic horror territory. The constant excessive violence becomes almost unintentionally comical after a while, and is so relentless I found myself checking the clock several times to see how much of this nonsense was left to endure. It all ends as one would expect, I felt absolutely nothing for any of the characters, especially the two older sisters and their laughably bad sibling rivalry over of all things a derogatory nickname. Really, really dumb stuff.

Before I forget, because the film makers clearly did: there is a tacked on scene at the end with one of the kids from the cabin at the beginning of the film that reveals one of the kids lived in the building. Why they included either scene is beyond me, as they are totally extraneous and disconnected from the main narrative. None of the characters in the family ever interact with this person. I guess they wanted to reuse a key scene from the original film, - one that features a ticking clock - so they concocting a silly side plot in order to have an excuse to show an old clock in a cabin in the woods.

Fans of excessive gore and violence may get more out of this film that I did, but I found it to be in poor taste - a total miss for me.