2024 Halloween Challenge

A system of cells interlinked

10-25-24

Watched this in an effort to fill in my film from Mexico for the neighbors section, but whoops! This film is from Spain!

REC 2

Jaume Balaguer�, Paco Plaza, 2009

REC 2 covers the same events of the first film, but from a different angle, as we follow a SWAT team into the quarantined building. This film maintains the quality of the first film, while ramping up the zombie action and expanding the religious implications of the first film. Overall, another strong entry in the series.

__________________

�It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.� ― Thomas Sowell

Siddon

Registered User

10-27-24

October 22nd Dogtooth (2009)
Horror Genre: Elevated

And thus I reach the end of the elevated horror genre for this year. I did not know this was going to be a sexual/domestic violence film going into it. I knew Yorgos Lanthimos's films covered the subject matter but I wasn't aware his first film was so focused on it. This is the story of Greek factory owner who keeps his entire family locked away in a compound. The children have been completely raised without any contact with the outside world so they are basically dogs.

The film is opened by a woman who the father uses as a prostitute for the son and you think the film is going to be about how she affects the family. But it's really that. Honestly I'm struggling with things to say about it because it's such on odd little film. It is a horror movie the violence in the film is horrific.

It is interesting how I went into this genre not planing on watching so many sexual horror films and yet 3 out of 5 of them were pretty graphic however it's George Lucas's film that has left the most impact with me.

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)
Day 5 - Calibre (2018)
Day 6 - I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House (2016)
Day 7 - The Exorcism (2024)
Day 8 - 1984 (1984)
Day 9 - Demon Seed (1977)
Day 10 - Rumours (2024)
Day 11 - THX-1138(1971)
Day 12 - The Passenger (2023)
Day 13 - AMFAD:All My Friends are Dead(2024)
Day 14 - VHS:Viral (2014)
Day 15 - Hell House LLC (2015)
Day 16 - Hell House llc origins the Carmichael Manor(2023)
Day 17 - Leviathan (1989)
Day 18 - The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Day 19 - Oracle (2023)
Day 20 - The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (1974)
Day 21 - Wicked Wicked (1973)
Day 22 - Dogtooth (2009)

Siddon

Registered User

10-27-24

October 23rd They Live (1988)
Pick a Decade 80's

John Carpenter's films in the 80's were just special to me. The Thing is obviously one of my favorite films of all time and yet it has certain flaws in it's execution. They Live is perfect...it's low budget but it has high aspirations it aspires to so much more with a lead performance from a professional wrestler in Roddy Piper that is nuanced and fascinating.

The three act structure is perfect in this film as the first act gives you so much time to breathe and live in this 80's world. It doesn't even feel like a horror movie until the final act with part one being a drama and part two being an action film it's the third part that moves at a breakneck speed.

While I don't often call for remakes or TV series I can imagine how good a 8-12 episode HBO miniseries with invading Aliens that have already taken over the country would be.

stillmellow

Basic Non-B

10-27-24

How it's going so far:

Day 1- In a Glass Prison (A-)
Day 2- Vampire Lovers (Meh)
Day 3- Asylum (Meh)
Day 4- Bedeviled

Day 5- Happiness of the Katakuris

Day 6- Incantation

Day 6b- Totally Killer

Day 7- Starry Eyes (Meh)
Day 8- Lake Placid

Day 9- Cars that Ate Paris (Meh, but I want a spiky Volkswagen Beetle)
Day 10- Smile 2 (Meh)
Day 11- Wolf of Snow Hollow

Day 12- In a Violent Nature (lower end of

, great ending)
Day 13- Malignant (a bit silly, but still lower end of

)
Day 14- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Day 15- Stepfather

Day 16- Dead of Night (A-)
Day 17- Summer of Fear (Meh)
Day 18- Oddity

Day 19- Body Bags (lower end of

, third story is weak)
Day 20- Loop Track (A)
Day 21- Lamb (Meh)
Day 22- Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Day 23- Forgotten (Meh)
Day 24- My Soul to Take (Meh)
Day 25- Incredible Melting Man

Day 26- Terror of Frankenstein

(least scary Monster ever. Honestly a little hot. )
Day 27- Medusa Touch

So far Loop Track, Dead of Night, and In a Glass Prison are the standouts.

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

10-28-24

Pick a Genre: Slasher

Scream

Craven, 1996

Wes Craven's love letter to horror films still holds up today. The opening is still one of the best in the genre, and the film is entertaining from start to finish, even generating some fun laugh-out-loud comedy as it moves along. It deconstructs the slasher genre while simultaneously creating a memorable and iconic killer in Ghostface. The film has spawned decades of sequels, reboots, parodies, and copycats, with each one attempting to put a new spin on the meta-analysis of horror tropes and cinema overall with some being more successful than others. This will always be the OG, though - it's steeped in its 90s-ness, and always manages to transport me back to those more carefree times.

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 24th Caveat (2020)
Border (Ireland)

Oddity is one of my favorite films of the year so I decided to check out McCarthy's first film Caveat and I was not dissapointed. A man is offered 1,000 dollars to watch a schizophrenic neice for a week on an Island in Ireland. He is told when he gets there he must wear a vest that tethers him to the basement as he's locked in. This film is sort of a mexican standoff of horror and unreliable narators. The lead male suffered a head trauma the lead female is crazy and becomes catatonic at points and the uncle is dishonest and creepy.

It's low budget but it doesn't feel low budget because the setting is so well defined and you see the world around them. The film doesn't go on for so long that it drags but the filmmaker took the time to put in practical effects. This is one of those put it on for a viewing party and people will like it.

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 25th He Knows You're Alone (1980)
Pick a Decade (80's)

Tom Hank's first screen role is a slasher/giallo film call He Knows You're Alone. Hanks plays a jogger that shows up in the late second act to talk about psychology with the stalking victim. This is one of those films that has a strong premise (killer is killing brides) and some solid production work lots of characters and settings with some decent kill scenes. The big issue is the script doesn't really come together to tell a cohesive story and it completely falls apart at the end...I am genuinely confused by how the film ended. With that said the film isn't horrible just misguided. In essence it's a Halloween ripoff but it's focused on the drama aspects of it which is alright.

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

4 weeks ago

Watch five films from one decade: The 80s

The Gate

Tak�cs, 1987

Perhaps objectively, this is pretty rough, but I used to watch this a lot as a teen so there is a strong nostalgia factor here. Still fun, with some great 80s cheese and fun 80s attire and hair etc. Kudos for playing into the silly satanic panic via heavy metal that was big in those days - I love the detail they put into the Sacrifyx band and lore in this film. Also, for a PG-13 flick, there are some intense scenes that my wife said freaked her out when she was a kid; she is almost 10 years younger than me, so she saw it at a young age. A guilty pleasure that I plan on continuing to enjoy throughout the years.

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 26th Longleg(2024)
Pick a Director Oz Perkins

Working through Perkins filmography for a second time and I have to admit he's an impressive filmmaker. The quality of the cinematography which is about a mysterious killer who keeps picking off families while never entering the homes is incredible. His films just feel so different from the everyday work. You would think Cage would be a huge factor in this film but he's frankly barely in it. The less is more approach to the work really hits home the horror. The last act is just a chef's kiss perfection it reminded me of the end of the Kovac Saga a famous Avengers story which starts off as epic and ends very insular.

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 27th - 10 Rillington Place(1971)
Border - UK/England

This is the best Hitchcock movie Hitckcock never made. Telling the story Richard Christie a serial killer in London from 1944-1953 this is Richard Attenborough's magnum opus when it comes to his performance. His Christie is such an unsettling creep, a mouth breathing pervert but the film always holds back and show restraint which makes it almost more horrifying. It's also a very different horror film in the sense that it's also the story of the man framed for the murder played by John Hurt...a Welshman who can't read and is railroaded by a justice system cold and unaffected by the horific crimes. Honestly I can't recommend this film enough it's one of the creepiest movies you will ever see and great for Halloween.

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 28th Lady Morgan's Vengeance or The Vegeance of Lady Mogran
Horror Inception

Doing the word count I'm not sure if two of my selections should count so I decided to pick an Italian film that is either 3 or 5 words. This was a blind watch for me and boy was I happy. Not saying this is a great film...it certainly is not it's got some plot holes you can drive a truck through but man is a genre breaking evening of fun. The basic plot of Lady Morgan's Vegeance is her fiance is thrown off a boat and she gets suckered into wedding an older man. The olderman then proceeds to surround her with new people and drive her insane through your traditional forms of gaslighting.

But that's only the first act...it's the second act which turns into a season of a soap opera with rapid plot twists in a cornucopia of gothic romance/horror. It's very much different from anything I've ever seen before and going through the special features I now have a bunch of quality recommendations. I'm not going to spoil the second part of the story but it's low budget and delicious. The film has flaws but it's good

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 29th House on Haunted Hill (1999)
A Film from 1999

Some films are not really appreciated in their time, at the turn of the century Dark Castle released a series of original ish films with middle of the road budget's popular cast and limited CGI. Back then it wasn't a big deal but now every film is either 200 million dollars or 1 million dollars and nothing in between. House on Haunted Hill is a soft reboot remake of the classic 1959 film about a group of people who have to stay in a spooky house to win a huge cash prize.

Now some of the acting is terrible...but some of it's not especially the battle between Geoffry Rush and Famke Janson a feuding couple trying to kill each other. Honestly they are great much better than the supposed leads...and this movie breezes through it's plot nothing is wasted it's banger after banger. I think part of why this film is constantly on rotation is because it's aged so well.

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

4 weeks ago

Pay Attention: Watch a film that was recommended in this thread

Loop Track

Sainsbury, 2023

The premise of this film seemed right up our alley, what with my whole family being avid hikers. Right off the bat, we both found ourselves being pretty annoyed with the main character. While I did have some empathy for him in the sense that this was some sort of allegory for battling mental illness or social anxiety, the guy was just ultra annoying, so I found myself being pretty ambivalent to his plight. Not only that, but the guy he meets in the woods was also really annoying, especially to my wife, who kept complaining about him as we watched.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the third act, that careened into pretty silly territory. I just sort of rolled my eyes and accepted the film was just sort of goofy, but my wife was mad she had wasted the time watching it. I will go ahead and rate it as above, but she pretty much hated it.

Sadly, a miss for both of us!

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

4 weeks ago

Looks like it will be a fail for me again this year, even with us starting viewings in September. We had trouble sticking to the list, watching about 8-10 other horror flicks that didn't qualify for the categories. We are three short, and will get two more films in tonight for Halloween night. Our critical error was thinking REC2 was made in Mexico, when it was in fact made in Spain!

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

Originally Posted by Sedai

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 April Fool's Day (1986)
Day 16 Friday the 13th Part 3
Day 17 In a Violent Nature
Day 18 Scream (1996)
Day 19 Friday the 13th (1980)

Free Time - Pick a decade and watch 5 films from that decade

Day 10 Double Blind
Day 11It's What's Inside
Day 12 Alien: Romulus
Day 13 V/H/S/ Beyond
Day 14 Fall

Actually you got the 31...because I put 6 twice just move your slashers and switch decades and you've got 31

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 30th The Host (2006)
Horror Inception

The Host was made by future Oscar winner of Parasite Bong Joon Hoo and to be frank...I don't get it. Much like House on Haunted Hill the first act is amazing and then the good stuff is kind sprinkled in there. It's strange because I do like the filmmaker and really enjoyed his earlier horror serial killer film memories of a murder...I'll likely watch that next year.

The Host is the story of a monster who comes to life after a pollution instance with chemicals from an American. The monster rises up and murders a lot of people and takes a little girl to his cave. The girls father and family try and get her back but have to deal with the bureaucracy. And it's fine but the humor doesn't really land and the film spends way to much time covering the wrong stuff in the second act. I don't get why the giant monster isn't the main concern of the film...maybe it's metaphor for climate change. This one just didn't work for me and I enjoy Kaiju films.

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

4 weeks ago

Originally Posted by Siddon

Day 15 April Fool's Day (1986)
Day 16 Friday the 13th Part 3
Day 17 In a Violent Nature
Day 18 Scream (1996)
Day 19 Friday the 13th (1980)

Free Time - Pick a decade and watch 5 films from that decade

Day 10 Double Blind
Day 11It's What's Inside
Day 12 Alien: Romulus
Day 13 V/H/S/ Beyond
Day 14 Fall

Actually you got the 31...because I put 6 twice just move your slashers and switch decades and you've got 31

Yea, I meant to analyze my list to see if i could pull something like this off, but didn't get around to it, as I was cramming flicks last night!

Thank you!

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

4 weeks ago

OK: Final Tally!

I may have missed a couple of title for the overflow, as I have been remiss in updating that section regularly.

FINAL 2024

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

Siddon

Registered User

4 weeks ago

October 31st Cold Light of Day (1989)
Pick a Decade (80's)

And we end the 80's with Cold Light of Day...so what if I told you their was a homosexual cannibal who lured low income men to his apartment and sexually assaulted them and ate them. You'd say oh that's Dahmer....what if I said this was before Dahmer and in England thus we get the serial killer Dennis Nilson who did this from 1978-1983. So I had seen the David Tennent mini-series which was very good as for this...eh this was way to low budget for me.

The film barely runs an hour and half and it still dragged on and on, they just didn't have the production or vision to tell the story well it almost felt like a student film. The lead was okay kinda a moppy type figure which is rough to spend 100% of the film with

Siddon