31 (or more) days of Quarantine Halloween

It's Halloween....here we are at the midway point to Halloween and most of us are going to be Quarantined for lord knows how many days. So until the Apocalypse starts or till this virus runs it's course I'm going to watch one horror film a day until I'm allowed to go back to work. If anyone wants to join me you are more than welcome.

Good. What films are you starting with?

It depends on what comes in the mail today. I know the first 7 movies I'm watching I just don't know the order yet.

March 18th - Day 1 - Prince of Darkness (1987), John Carpenter


While this wasn't the ideal start for me...that'll come tomorrow this was going to get a rewatch from me. Prince of Darkness is reminiscent of early Carpenter works which is a reason it gets somewhat of a bad wrap. A group of scientists are stuck in a church were a virus infects and kills them off one by one.



The film has some failures...this is one of the worst casts Carpenter has. Pleasence is good in a limited roll as is his collection of returnees from Big Trouble in Little China the story just doesn't really come together.


The score is amazing, and the FX are really good(not Thing good or Hellraiser good but still very good) They also do a pretty good job with the transmission of the virus. I do wonder if as we are entering the era of remakes of IP's if the story wouldn't be more suited as a 10 episode HBO/Netflix series so we can really go into some of these set pieces and ideas.

You need a soundtrack to preface this announcement! I suggest Halloween 3's Silver Shamrock ditty.
BOM-pee BOM-pee BOM-pee BOM-pee....

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"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear

March 19th - Day 2 - Raw (2016) - Julia Ducournau

Raw (2016) is the story of a young vegetarian who upon entering a veterinary program starts to develop strange symptoms. This was just okay for me, the whole family is somewhat tied into the story which felt a bit confusing and somewhat of a crutch. I also enjoyed the first half more than the second half where it became more confusing. Garcice Marillier the lead actress is good and a number of the set pieces are well thought out but it doesn't necessarily come together in a cohesive story. At the end of the film we don't really even know what it wrong with her which is a huge negative to me.

March 20th - Day 3 - The Circle (2015) - Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione

Student Filmstypically don't work on me but this was a fairly effective little thriller. The Circle tells the story of a group of 50 people locked in a spaceship where only one of them will possibly survive. The film is lacking a bit when it comes to character development and it is borderline misandrist where not a single female is given any negative character traits. But I did find it to be enjoyable the whittling down the group is fun though the dialogue needed a little bit of work. Still this was a nice little waste of a Friday evening type film

March 21st - Day 4- The Wailing (2016) - Na Hong-Jin

The Wailing (2016) is an interesting concept, a rash of murder's breaks out in an isolated South Korean village. This is one of those films where the setup and the first hour are great and then the second half it kinda falls apart. This actually reminded me quite a bit of The Dead Don't Die where it feels comedic at times and if you just removed those elements you would have a tighter script and better film. I was surprised that this film made a top 100 list because by the end of the almost three hours in runtime I did have a ...that's it type feeling to it.

March 22nd - Day 5 - In The Mouth of Madness (1994) - John Carpenter

For me Carpenter's best work are the films you can watch over and over again and they just keep getting better. I didn't care for In the Mouth of Madness the first time I saw it...I wanted a more linear story it felt like acts where missing from the tale. Now after a third or fourth rewatch I've come to love it as a series of nightmares loosely tied together based on the stories of Sutter Kane.

I loved this one.

March 23rd - Day 5 - Dr. Giggles (1992) - Manny Coto



Dr. Giggles is the story of an escaped mental patient who terrorizes a group of teens in early 90's. Larry Drake is basically a 2nd rate Freddy Krueger but the film does have it's charms. The kills are gory enough for the time period and Holly Marie Combs makes an adequate scream queen (with her own health issues)

March 24th - Day 6 - From Beyond (1986) - Stuart Gordon


In honor of Stuart Gordon passing away I decided to watch my favorite film of his From Beyond(1986). The story is an adaptation of a Lovecraft story about a group of three people stuck in a house after a scientist kills himself.



Every effect on this film is practical, it might be the best manifestation of HP Lovecraft's vision I've ever seen. But the FX is just part of what makes this film so great Gordon does a great job flushing out the four characters in the story. Jeffrey Combs is a surprisingly effective leading actor normally typecast as the weasel in this one he takes on the Steve McQueen style and it works really well. Ted Sorel is such a wonderfully weasely and creepy #metoo guy that he's just as bad in human form as he is as a giant wormlike creature. But the star of the film is Barbara Crampton who goes from scientist to nympho to final girl without missing a beat.

I loved Stuart Gordon's films when I was younger but on the latest rewatches most of them felt kinda weak. From Beyond is among the better though (if I'd have to choose a favorite right now, I'd probably say Dagon). Sometimes I just wish I could get back the enthusiasm of my younger self instead of being so damn cynical/critical towards everything.

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March 25th - Day 7 - See You in Hell, Darling (1966) -Robert Gist

Sometimes watching an attempt at a horror film is better than the real thing. See You in Hell, Darling aka An American Dream is an adaptation of a Norman Mailer novel. It tells the story of a man who in an effort to get a divorce from his wife ends up tossing her out of a window. The man ends up in a nightmare scenerio sort of like Vertigo but not really as effective. I picked this movie because it stars Stuart Whitman who passed away last week. Apparently the film was trashed when it first came out but TCM liked it enough to show it. Whitman is good though it feels like the film doesn't really have enough suspense scenes it's still a good watch.

March 26nd - Day 8 - The Crazies(1973) - George Romero

Well this was timely...as my county initiated it's lock-down order I decided to check out The Crazies...Romero's attempt at making a war film. And really that's what the movie feels like, the remake is 90% horror but The Crazies only has sporatical scenes. You do have quite a few great scenes early on...you'll never look at an old lady the same way again.


One of the things I really like about the film is you can see Romero grow as a fimmaker, he would follow this up with his two best films Martin and Dawn of the Dead. But if your locked up and you want to see a bunch of crazy dudes in white suits hunting you down with WWII era firearms...rent The Crazies.

March 27th - Day 9 - The Babadook(2014) - Jennifer Kent


Well this is a great one to watch alone in sequester, this is the story of a widowed mother of a six year old who after reading a scary kids story about the Babadook slowly goes crazy. I like this movie a lot...we get a great narative shift from the mother to the child at the third act mark which elevates the film. The film also has a great lived in feeling to everything in the story, it feels like we've seen these characters during the course of their journey.

March 28th - Day 10 - Land of Doom (1986) Peter Maris


God I love TCM's Underground this was a hell of a nice discovery for me. Land of Doom is basically a Road Warrior ripoff but it felt like it had a little budget to it. It's the post apocalypse and a couple is on the run from biker mutants I guess. Anyways the virus ruined the world and you have the raping, shooting, riding while it doesn't reinvent the wheel I did enjoy it.

Oh boy, 1980s post-apocalyptic trash I haven't seen. Watchlisted immediately

March 29th - Day 11 - The Void (2016) - Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie,


Well it's not perfect but this was a huge surprise for me practical effects a secluded environment and amazing creativity the void definitely tickled my Lovecraft bone. Basically a group of people are stuck in an hospital that is in the process of closing down and every goes to hell. The characters a little weak they aren't really well developed and parts of the story and monster mythology jump around a bit too much for my taste. However a lot of the stuff they do in this movie is very cool including the monster which is a marvel of puppetry.


great movie

March 30th - Day 12 - Alien(1979) - Ridley Scott

I don't know what you can say about this film that hasn't already been said. This is basically the comfort food of horror, never gets old and you can watch it and find new stuff in it each time you watch it. I think a big reason why the film has such a great lasting effect is that it's cast with very normal looking actors. The later films always cast model types and that almost takes away from the realism. I also enjoy how Scott created a very normal set of physic's when Ash goes crazy in modern films it would be a big action setpiece...here it's one shot. Everything in the film feels grounded and that helps with the horror.