2023 Halloween Challenge

Welcome Ghouls and Goblins to the fourth annual Halloween challenge. Each year I try and come up with new topics and ideas to cover and I feel like I've got some fun ones. The rules are simple 31 days, 31 horror films try and watch one a day or marathon in a weekend and post your progress. The challenge this year will be to cover 31 specific topics including an exciting new challenge....the Directors Alphabet (of death)

Part A

• Watch a Horror film that celebrated a big anniversary this year.

Part B

• Watch a horror film that you consider "High Art"
• Watch a horror film that you consider "Low Art"

Part C - Honor of William Friedkin

• Watch a religious Horror film
• Watch a Horror Film from a Director who has won or was nominated for an Oscar
• Watch an Oscar Nominated Horror Film

Part D - Horror From Around the Globe

• Pick a film from one continent
• Pick a film from Another continent
• Pick a film from a third different continent
• Pick a film from a fourth continent

Part E - Time man it just keeps on going

• Watch a film released in 2023
• Watch a film released in 2022
• Watch a film released in 1998 (25 years ago)
• Watch a film released in 1973 (50 years ago)
• Watch a film released in 1948 (75 years ago)
• Watch a film released in 1932

Part F

• A Horror Film sold as a horror film but it's really something else.
• A Horror Film watched by someone else in this or previous threads
• A Horror Film you would recommend tor people to watch
• A Horror Film you would suggest to someone under 15
• A Horror Film that you found on a streaming site
• A Horror Film released on a boutique label

Part G - The Alphabetical Director Challenge You must watch one film from each subsection and the Directors that you are challenged to watch

• Alexandre Aja, Luigi Bazzoni, David Cronenberg
  
• Joe Dante, Roger Eggers, Terence Fisher
• Val Guest, Tobe Hooper, Narciso Ibáñez-Serrador
• Henry Joost. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, David Lynch
• Sergio Martino, Kazui Nihonmatsu, André Øvredal
• Jordan Poole, Jean Rollin, M Night Shyamalan,
• Jacques Tourneur, Edgar Georg Ulmer, The Vicious Brothers
• Ti West, Brian Yuzna, Rob Zombie
• Brian De Palma, Park Chan-wook, Guillermo del Toro
  

And if you want to play the game in hard mode, try watching films from all 27 directors to fit in all the other categories

Saved to keep track

Part A

• Watch a Horror film that celebrated a big anniversary this year.

Part B

• Watch a horror film that you consider "High Art"
  Hour of the Wolf
• Watch a horror film that you consider "Low Art"

Part C - Honor of William Friedkin

• Watch a religious Horror film
  The Church
• Watch a Horror Film from a Director who has won or was nominated for an Oscar
  Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde (1941)
• Watch an Oscar Nominated Horror Film

Part D - Horror From Around the Globe

• Pick a film from one continent
  (North America)
  Mortuary
• Pick a film from Another continent
  (Europe)
  Lokis
• Pick a film from a third different continent
• Pick a film from a fourth continent

Part E - Time man it just keeps on going

• Watch a film released in 2023
• Watch a film released in 2022
• Watch a film released in 1998 (25 years ago)
• Watch a film released in 1973 (50 years ago)
  Flesh for Frankenstein
• Watch a film released in 1948 (75 years ago)
• Watch a film released in 1932

Part F

• A Horror Film sold as a horror film but it's really something else.
• A Horror Film watched by someone else in this or previous threads
• A Horror Film you would recommend tor people to watch
• A Horror Film you would suggest to someone under 15
• A Horror Film that you found on a streaming site
• A Horror Film released on a boutique label

Part G - The Alphabetical Director Challenge You must watch one film from each subsection and the Directors that you are challenged to watch

• ALEXANDRE AJA,Luigi Bazzoni, David Cronenberg
  High Tension
• Joe Dante, Roger Eggers, Terence Fisher
• Val Guest, Tobe Hooper, Narciso Ibáñez-Serrador
• Henry Joost. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, David Lynch
• Sergio Martino, Kazui Nihonmatsu, André Øvredal
• Jordan Poole, Jean Rollin, M Night Shyamalan,
• JACQUES TOURNEUR, Edgar Georg Ulmer, The Vicious Brothers
  Cat People
• Ti West, Brian Yuzna, Rob Zombie
• Brian De Palma, Park Chan-wook, Guillermo del Toro
  

And if you want to play the game in hard mode, try watching films from all 27 directors to fit in all the other categories

So for the directors at the end we just just choose one from each group, right?

For example, I would choose one of Martino, Nihonmatsu or Ovredal from that group

Yes so if you were to pick nine films

• David Cronenberg
  
• Joe Dante,
  
• Tobe Hooper
• David Lynch
• Sergio Martino
• M Night Shyamalan,
• Jacques Tourneur
• Rob Zombie
• Brian De Palma

And I tried to vary up the options, so if you want to discover some film makers you have that option. If you want to stick with certain genres you have a path to that

Yes, this works perfectly.

Halloween movie challenge on, going to make this my ultimate horror Halloween moviethon 2023.

Does it start now or Oct 1st?

October 1st

Looking forward to this!

NOTE: I know it's cheating, but I started a couple of days early this year, because I have a 4 year-old daughter, so finding time to get horror films in is extremely difficult/limited for me. If this revokes my MoFo horror card, so be it!

My tracker:

Part A

• Watch a Horror film that celebrated a big anniversary this year (20th) - Final Destination 2

Part B

• Watch a horror film that you consider "High Art" - The Shining
• Watch a horror film that you consider "Low Art" - The Blob (1988)

Part C - Honor of William Friedkin

• Watch a religious Horror film - The Vigil
• Watch a Horror Film from a Director who has won or was nominated for an Oscar - Seven
• Watch an Oscar Nominated Horror Film - The Silence of the Lambs

Part D - Horror From Around the Globe

• Pick a film from one continent North America - The Skeleton Key
• Pick a film from Another continent Australia - The Tunnel
• Pick a film from a third different continent - Africa: Gaia
• Pick a film from a fourth continent Europe - REC

Part E - Time man it just keeps on going

• Watch a film released in 2023 - Influencer
• Watch a film released in 2022 - Talk to Me
• Watch a film released in 1998 (25 years ago) - Urban Legend
• Watch a film released in 1973 (50 years ago) The Exorcist
• Watch a film released in 1948 (75 years ago)
• Watch a film released in 1932 - The Mummy

Part F

• A Horror Film sold as a horror film but it's really something else.
• A Horror Film watched by someone else in this or previous threads - The Boogens
• A Horror Film you would recommend tor people to watch - The Conjuring
• A Horror Film you would suggest to someone under 15 - April Fools Day (1986)
• A Horror Film that you found on a streaming site - The Last Exorcism
• A Horror Film released on a boutique label - Trick-r-Treat (Shout Factory)

Part G - The Alphabetical Director Challenge You must watch one film from each subsection and the Directors that you are challenged to watch

• Alexandre Aja, Luigi Bazzoni, David Cronenberg - Rabid
• Joe Dante, Roger Eggers, Terence Fisher - The Witch
• Val Guest, Tobe Hooper, Narciso Ibáñez-Serrador
• Henry Joost. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, David Lynch - Paranormal Activity 3
• Sergio Martino, Kazui Nihonmatsu, André Øvredal - Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
• Jordan Poole, Jean Rollin, M Night Shyamalan, - The Sixth Sense
• Jacques Tourneur, Edgar Georg Ulmer, The Vicious Brothers - Grave Encounters
• Ti West, Brian Yuzna, Rob Zombie - Pearl
• Brian De Palma, Park Chan-wook, Guillermo del Toro
  - Carrie

__________________

Here we go! A film directed by Guillermo del Toro: The Devil's Backbone (2001)



A gripping and wonderfully told psychological drama horror set in a boys' orphanage during the depressing times of the Spanish Civil War. It shares many of the ideas and qualities of Del Toro's masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth. And like most of his movies, this one uses the horror not really to scare but to intrigue and highlight characters' emotional baggage and fates. It's all well-written with plenty of interesting characters. Especially the performances of the young boys were very effective. There's however nothing here that elevates the movie to greatness. I feel the directing is not that inspired and the story's resolution was not as satisfying than I would have liked. Still, I was thoroughly enjoying it. Recommended!

Celebrated a big anniversary this year: Messiah of Evil (Huyck & Katz, 1973)



A very atmospheric and eerie horror thriller likely inspired by Italian giallos, in which people in a coastal town are turned into mindless zombie-like beings by some unseen force. It successfully builds up a sense of hopelessness while still having many fun character interactions. Its strongest point is a wonderful screenplay with many memorable moments. I would guess this one influenced filmmakers such as John Carpenter and Lambero Bava. The directing of the outdoor scenes could probably have been better, especially the shots of the beach and ocean where a bit "meh", and it's possible the film would have been more effective had they cut the "dark messiah" explanation and backstory and instead leave it a mystery.

My favourite moment was the whole sequence with the young girl in the cinema - hilarious! Also I really enjoyed


I can see myself revisiting this in the future.

A film from Europe: The Lift (Dick Maas, 1983)



Watching The Lift feels very much like watching dutch filmmaker Dick Maas learning the ropes on how to make a feature-length movie. In fact it his his first long movie, and he does the writing, directing, and music so I'll be forgiving. It's very rough around the edges, and plenty of things here don't work as intended. I find the concept really fun - an elevator system in a big office building going rogue. The elevator scenes are well directed, and the kills for the most part well done. Good use of slow synth music.

The family plot doesn't resolve well, there's a lot of build up with little payoff. The biggest issue with the movie however is that it's much too long and overstays its welcome. I think it could easily have been twice as good if they had settled for a 60 minute run-time and not left any fat. For most people, I say just watch Amsterdamned instead as it's much better. If you like me are already a big fan of that movie, then give this a watch.

Watch a film released in 1998 (25 years ago): Devil in the Flesh (Steve Cohen)



A new girl in town moves in with her grandma, and quickly gets tired of getting told what to do and decides to do whatever she feels like, including secuding her high school techer. Imdb claimed this was a horror movie, but it's a drama thriller with elements of comedy and maybe two horror moments in total. It was an enjoyable watch, but not enough for me to recommend it. The nicest thing I can say about this one is that everything works. That's also it, because it would have needed much more to be memorable.

A film directed by Jacques Tourneur: Cat People (1942)



A Serbian woman with a curious family history now living in the US believes she might be a cat. Carried by a strong screenplay and camerawork, the film tells an intriguing and dramatic story minus a somewhat slow start. Really enjoyed the psychologist character. The swimming pool scene was awesome. Can't help but feeling the ending scene felt unfulfilling. I think many of you rate this film very highly, however I was less gripped by the acting than many of you. Overall an exciting and suspenseful thriller.




A film directed by David Cronenberg: Scanners (1981)



Enjoyed it from start to finish. To me it's almost up there with Videodrome and The Fly. The "Vader-Luke" moment at the end was a goretastic masterpiece. My biggest critique is that tempo could maybe have been a bit higher in the middle parts. Also Stephen Lack was not the best casting choice for protagonist here. Overall a very atmospheric horror thriller.

This has really become my baby. I don't know why, though I guess I've made it clear in past reviews, why I have so much affection for this film but I do. I guess it's the combination of borderline-surrealism, solid execution of the Lovecraft oeuvre, and "punching above its weight" (which always endears films to me).
I always want to recommend this film but I always worry it will just be too low-budget/too obscure for folk.

I can definately see why, it has all the elements that would make one want to return and just experience it over and over again. When watching it, I didn't think much about it as Lovecraftian, but it certainly has many elements: rising madness, a powerful evil/dark source, foggy coastal town, finding research notes etc.

A film directed by Rob Zombie: The Devil's Rejects (2005)



For some reason I hadn't seen this yet. It's plenty of fun, I didn't expect this to be highly comedic. Especially in the first 40 minutes or so I found myself laughing out loud many times.The biggest problem I have with the movie is that the further into the movie I got, the less fun I was having, and the final third felt pretty run-of-the-mill. Because of that I don't know if this will be a movie I wanna rewatch. Also the characters are pretty uninteresting, especially the sheriff had a lot of boring camera time. Good performances though.

A film released in 2022: Werewolf by Night (Giacchino)



Not sure what I just watched. Well, it was a 48 minute action comedy, with unexciting action scenes but fun and goofy characters, mostly in black and white, and with some kind of connection to Marvel. I assume it has a lot of backstory. Overall it felt disjointed and didn't really work for me, but still I was entertained. I'd like to see more of this kind of stuff but... hire an action choreographer please.

Posting this as a tracker. I know I won’t hit 31 movies but I’ll put in a solid effort.

Part A
Murders in the Zoo (90th anniversary
Part B*
Onibaba
Slumber Party Massacre
Part C - Honor of William Friedkin*
Watch a religious Horror film
The Host
Cape Fear
Part D - Horror From Around the Globe
Videodrome
Juju
Kuroneko
The Babadook
Part E - Time man it just keeps on going
Skinamarkink
Watch a film released in 2022
Watch a film released in 1998 (25 years ago)
Kolchak: The Night Strangler
Watch a film released in 1948 (75 years ago)
Watch a film released in 1932
Part F*
A Horror Film sold as a horror film but it's really something else.
A Horror Film watched by someone else in this or previous threads
A Horror Film you would recommend tor people to watch
A Horror Film you would suggest to someone under 15
A Horror Film that you found on a streaming site
A Horror Film released on a boutique label
Part G - The Alphabetical Director Challenge You must watch one film from each subsection and the Directors that you are challenged to watch
Alexandre Aja,*Luigi Bazzoni, David Cronenberg*
Joe Dante, Roger Eggers, Terence Fisher
Val Guest, Tobe Hooper, Narciso Ibáñez-Serrador
Henry Joost. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, David Lynch
Sergio Martino, Kazui Nihonmatsu, André Øvredal
Jordan Poole, Jean Rollin, M Night Shyamalan,
Jacques Tourneur, Edgar Georg Ulmer, The Vicious Brothers
Ti West, Brian Yuzna, Rob Zombie
Brian De Palma,*Park Chan-wook, Guillermo del Toro*