2022 Halloween Challenge

Im watching this tonight for Halloween...last year I made the mistake of watching Midsommar (2019)

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (Signorelli, 1988)



Just finished my final movie of this year's Halloween Challenge with this horror comedy. Lots of good silly fun the whole way through.



Any other Elvira worth watching? Tomorrow I'll write a summary of all the movies I watched in October. Until then, unpleasant dreams!

Enjoy, The VVitch is really good and quite intense. Then again I'm a crazy person who loved Midsommar.

I got 30 minutes into it then deleted it.

?

The Witch is SO GOOD. wtf!

__________________

Final Tally. Not as terrible as I thought it would be, but still far short.



1. Two Word Horror Film The Exorcist
2. A film in a series Halloween
3. A Film in the same series Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later

4. A film with the same Director/Actor
5. A film with the same Director/Actress
6. A film with the same Actor/Actress

7. A film that shares a word with 8 and 10 A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
8. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9 Bad Dreams
9. A film that shares the same word with 8 and 10
10. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9 Werewolf by Night

11. A Film with a Serial Killer The Poughkeepsie Tapes
12. A Film with a Haunted House The Conjuring
13. A Film on a College Campus The House on Sorority Row
14. A Film in a Dystopian Future
15. A Film with a Final Girl

16. A film released in 2022 Halloween Ends
17. A film released in 2020 The Dark and the Wicked
18. A film released in 2002 Cabin Fever
19. A film released in 1982 Slumber Party Massacre
20. A film released in 1960
21. A film released in a double year (1922, 1933, 1944, etc.) Barbarian (2022)

22. Anthology-Horror V/H/S/99
23. Body Horror The Hidden
24. Creature Feature Willow Creek
25. Historical Horror Last Night in Soho
26. Horror-Comedy
27. Psychological Thriller
28. Religious Horror The Exorcism of Emily Rose
29. Science Fiction Horror - Possessor
30. Sex Horror
31. Supernatural Horror The Black Phone

So I'm going to do half my writeups now and half my write ups later




October 22nd
The Sender (1982)
19. A film released in 1982 (Minus 40 years)

The creepy guy that always plays a creepy guy is a creepy teen in this science fiction horror film. The pacing in this film is glacial which normally I'm okay with but it doesn't really work well with this story. The big issue is you've seen this film a dozen times before so by taking it's time and polishing the themes and ideas of the psychic victim is effective but really redundant. It doesn't have the weirdness of Carrie or Firestarter and it's not as much fun as Scanners. When it was all said and done it was just there.

October 23rd
Werewolf by Night (2022)
21. A film released in a double year (1922, 1933, 1944, etc.)

Now this was great, on a dark and stormy night a group of monster hunters are called upon to kill a monster and get the "bloodstone". Yet one of the characters isn't really what he seems to be. This was the best Marvel TV show since Wandavision, where the filmmaker really made the film feel like something from the 30's. It's a slow build atmospheric film but it still has amazing FX and the marvel humor you tend to like.

Frankly I got nothing bad to say about this, it's short and builds towards a crazy third act. What I admired about it was how he managed to keep the tension going with very little setup. Really strong film and it was great that it was so short.

October 24th
It Came From Outer Space (1953)
29. Science Fiction - Horror

Jack Arnold is one of my favorite film makers. While most of his films are classics you've got a dud or two in there. This is one of those films that has a lot of potential it's basically Invasion of the Body Snatchers before that film came out...but it's not nearly as good. The human characteristics are solid one of the actresses actually got a Golden Globe for best newcomer back when they awarded those.

The biggest issue with the film is that the alien effects aren't great. They do this weird fish eye bubble thing and it's not really scary or effective. You'll see the POV creature look in films like Predator or Terminator and those look great this just looks blurry. The aliens also don't have the same creep factor like The Invasion Pod People have. So it was decent but fairly unspectacular.

I think I'm closed out the month with some movies that satisfied more of these.
Two from a Franchise:
Jason X - funny. Though it felt like various parodies of a killer in the forest (often in 30 second commercials) stretches out to a feature-length film.
Friday the 13th Part VII - I'd only seen large chunks of this in the background before, and it looked quite dull. But after Jason X, and my recollections of Parts 4-6, it was actually kind of nice to see slightly less cartoonish victims (I don't know how much of that perception is due to watch Jason X first).


From 2002:
Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary - the fourth Dracula adaptation I've seen this month and probably the best of the four. Silent and stylized worked really well for me here.


Body Horror:
Xtro (rewatch) - a subversive little movie that's simultaneously stupid and whackadoodle.


I'd have to go back and update the old entries, but I think I missed
Anthology horror
Dystopian Future horror
2020 horror.

October 25th
The Mummy (1959)
25. Historical Horror

Y'know there is something to be said for just telling a basic story from start to finish. Hammer did a lot of series and remakes of Universal films I think this the biggest improvement from the original. The story takes place at three different periods of time, turn of the century, 4,000 years earlier and then three years after the excavation.

This is incredible, I love the special effects and look of this Mummy. Christopher Lee is a large man and he is very imposing as the silent killer. All the actors and characters are surprisingly solid, Peter Cushing has a lot of fun as the Mummy hunter this is him at his most action hero esque persona. The set pieces are also very strong, between the old tombs, large estate and pretty nice little bog this is likely my favorite Hammer film.

I think I've never seen more than maybe 15-20 movies in a month before, so this was challenging for me, and I had lots of fun! Ended up with 33 watches in total and here's a summary:

1. A two word horror film: Horror Express (1972)
2. A film in a series: Underworld: Evolution (2006)
3. A film in the same series: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
4. A film with the same director/actor: Escape from New York (John Carpenter & Tom Atkins, 1981)
5. A film with the same director/actress: The Fog (John Carpenter & Nancy Kyes, 1980)
6. A film with the same actor/actress: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Tom Atkins & Nancy Kyes, 1982)
7. A film that shares a word with 8 and 10: Night of the Demon (1957)
8. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9: The Night Stalker (1974)
9. A film that shares the same word with 8 and 10: Last Night in Soho (2021)
10. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
11. A film with a serial killer: Scream (1996)
12. A film with a haunted house: The House by the Cemetary (1981)
13. A film on a college campus: Scream 2 (1997)
14. A film in a dystopian future: The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
15. A film with a final girl: Train to Busan (2016)
16. A film released in 2022: Prey
17. A film released in 2020: Freaky
18. A film released in 2002: 28 Days Later
19. A film released in 1982: Cat People
20. A film released in 1960: The Little Shop of Horrors
21. A film released in the double year 1933: Mystery of the Wax Museum
22. Anthology Horror: Tales from the Crypt (1972)
23. Body Horror: The Blob (1958)
24. Creature Feature: Gojira (1954)
25. Historical Horror: The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
26. Horror Comedy: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
27. Psychological Thriller: Hour of the Wolf (1968)
28. Religious Horror: Flavia the Heretic (1974)
29. Scifi Horror: It Came from Outer Space (1953)
30. Sex Horror: Daughters of Darkness (1971)
31. Supernatural Horror: The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

Also watched...
32. Doctor X (1932)
33. The Lighthouse (2019)

Scariest moments: Dad going mad while fishing with his son in Hour of the Wolf, and the family getting comfy in their new italian house in House by the Cemetary.



Top seven favourite movies...
7. The Call of Cthulhu (Leman, 2005) - new discovery
6. The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019) - new discovery
5. The Quatermass Xperiment (Val Guest, 1955) - new discovery
4. Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) - new discovery
3. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Tatopoulos, 2009) - new discovery
2. Night of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968) - 1st rewatch
1. The Fog (John Carpenter 1980) - 1st rewatch

31. Castle of Blood (1964/YouTube)



A reporter, Alan Foster, is challenged by Edgar Allan Poe to spend Halloween night in his friend's haunted castle. It is said that the spirits of those who died violently in the house re-enact the moments of their death every year on this night. Will Alan count himself among them before the sun rises?

I actually started watching this over the weekend, but was so enamored by the first 15 minutes that I decided to save this for a Halloween viewing. I'm glad I did because the atmosphere of Castle of Blood gives me that holiday feeling with its fog, cobwebs, gothic castle, visions of murder, and melancholy ghosts. It definitely exemplifies Poe's stories in feeling, even if not based on any specifically.

Alan Foster must have thought he hit the jackpot when he met the beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Julia. I laughed when Elizabeth asked him about himself and he blurted out "I'm single…". His happiness doesn't last too long though and ultimately leads to one big gut-punch of an ending. It's great.

@Sedai I read in the Amazon trivia blurb while the movie was playing that the Satanic Church literally shows screenings of the film due to its authenticity. Yknow, I can live without that.

Well, this was a sad showing. Work severely interfered with my viewings this month. My new position has been exhausting due to attendance issues, which promoted a meeting at work with the whole plant and our plant manager. The result? 4 people called off yesterday anyways. *sigh*. Make my job harder.
Anyways, films I was able to watch are under the category. All first time watches.

A. The Opening....
1.[b] A Two Word Horror Film
Killer Fish
B. Double Feature.......
2. A film in a series
3. A Film in the same series

C . Double Feature Duo Trio (Must be the same people)
4. A film with the same Director/Actor
5. A film with the same Director/Actress
Mother of Tears
(Dario Argento, Asia Argento)
6. A film with the same Actor/Actress
Argento’s Dracula
(Asia Argento, Thomas Kretschmann)
D. Repeat After Me.
7. A film that shares a word with 8 and 10
Countess Dracula
8. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9
9. A film that shares the same word with 8 and 10
10. A film that shares the same word with 7 and 9


E. Horror Double Word Bingo
[b]
11. A Film with a Serial Killer
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
12. A Film with a Haunted House
Crimson Peak
13. A Film on a College Campus
The House on Sorority Row (1982)
14. A Film in a Dystopian Future
15. A Film with a Final Girl
Scream 4
F. Time man...it just keeps going
16. A film released in 2022
17. A film released in 2020 (Minus 2 years)
18. A film released in 2002 (Minus 20 years)
19. A film released in 1982 (Minus 40 years)
20. A film released in 1960 (Minus 62 years)
21. A film released in a double year (1922, 1933, 1944, etc.)

G. Sub-Genre
[b]22. Anthology-Horror
23. Body Horror
Body Melt
24.Creature Feature
Prophecy (1979)
25. Historical Horror
Viy (1969)
26. Horror-Comedy
27. Psychological Thriller
The Stepford Wives (1975)
28. Religious Horror
29. Science Fiction - Horror
Planet of the Vampires
30. Sex Horror
The Velvet Vampire
31. Supernatural Horror
It Follows

At least you got to watch Killer Fish and, um, Mother of Tears.

Yeah. Viy and Henry were the only standouts.

October 26th
Horror of Dracula (1958)
31. Supernatural Horror

A couple years ago I did The Frankenstein series this year I decided to go through the Dracula series. It also covers a number of sub genres and categories. First time up the big thing I noiced was that this felt like the biggest budget of all the films. While the set design in Hammer films is always solid this just looked a notch better than many of the other installments. It's hard to explain but it just felt like the sets went deeper than other ones.

This movie also does a better job with supporting characters. I'll get into it later but Cushing and Gough feel like a real team which is something later films miss. The violence and tension are also a bit better here than in subsequent series.

October 27th
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
20. A film released in 1960 (Minus 62 years)

Brides of Dracula takes place after the events of House of Dracula This is a Terrence Fisher and Puter Cushing film, Fisher does a good job conveying a sense of atmosphere and dread. Cushing is good in this but it feels like this is his movie which Van Hellsing isn't really that great of a character especially compared to his other Hammer work.

My biggest problem with the film is we get basically another dracula...a sort of son of Dracula. This isn't really what you come for in a film like this and it just feels like a cheap knockoff. I also found the film to be a little bit more forgettable than some of the other ones.

October 28th
Dracula:Prince of Darkness(1966)
2. A film in a series

This movie was made six years later and Christopher Lee is back but Peter Cushing isn't. This is the third film in the series but it feels like the third time the producers tried to start telling the story. We get four people who show up at an abandoned castle. They come in and find that the room has been set and a servant is ready to take them in and feed them.

In the last film we get a second rate Dracula here we get a second rate Hellsing. He's a monk and a burly man who knows plenty about vampires but still leaves these fouir people to get murdered. Lee is mostly silent in this film which is rough because once again what are you getting from a film like this. The action scenes are also very silly and poorly planned as Dracula doesn't really have that many powers in these Hammer films. Still it was watchable just not spectacular and the series desperately needed a change after this.