5th Annual N&G 31 Days* of Halloween (2023)

[CrazyDiamond84]

3. The Exorcist (1973) (Extended cut)


It's probably been a good 25 years since I've seen this whole movie. I can't imagine what it was like to see this in 1973 as its still a masterpiece in horror, and still creepy as hell.

 

[avecigrec]

I can't imagine what it was like to see this in 1973 as its still a masterpiece in horror, and still creepy as hell.

My stepdad and a couple friends went to a drive-in and thought it was gonna be a detective movie. They didn't make it anywhere near to the end and he's never gone back. Fucked him up good!

 

[EvanBenner]

It's been a productive couple days in costume construction land, so here's a quick roundup before I run out to my late Soft Kill show.

My Spooky Season challenge yesterday was a 65–70 minute horror movie, and I answered that with two!

The first was Womaneater with old-school black & white sci-fi/adventure themes. An intrepid explorer co-opts a tribal means of bringing the dead back to life—a monstrous tree-beast that secretes a life-giving serum but only when fed a live woman. It's a pretty boring movie, mostly revolving around a police investigation into the recent disappearances of local women.



My second brisk movie was The Snake Woman, a far more entertaining offering but mostly for unintentional reasons. A rural herpetologist claims to have uncovered powerful healing properties in snake venom to soothe his ailing, pregnant wife. She gives birth to a cold-blooded child and promptly dies upon first setting eyes on her. I almost died with laughter. The dialogue describes a monstrosity with no eyelids—you'd expect a baby Voldemort—but when they cut to the baby, it looks perfectly normal yet the mother gasps and dies. Anyways, the midwife turns out to be the local witch who riles up the crowd who destroy the doctor's manor in search of the infant who was stolen away to safety. Decades later, locals begin dying from venomous snake bites, and the hunt for the serpentine legend continues.



Between those two, I opted for an odd looking thriller starring Jennifer Jason Leigh who is a troubled young woman that comes into ownership of a sex club from her late uncle. As her renovation begins, she's beset by strange and harrowing events that bring her grasp of reality into question. It's got a weird build, but proved intriguing.



Noticed Xfinity gave us access to the MGM+ library this week, so snuck my chance to check Windows off my watchlist. It's an okay thriller about a sexual assault survivor who is then besieged by an unknown stalker.



In my search for background nonsense, we then tossed on Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout which is half clip reel, half campy exercise routine. For how short it is, it's also a test of patience during several sequences.



We closed out last night with Dr. Giggles and its nonsensical slasher premise. Far too many medical puns, though.

 

[EvanBenner]

Today's Spooky Season challenge asked for Black Horror, so I doubled up again.

First was Blacula, which outdid several Hammer/Universal vamp offerings in my book. A surprisingly grounded build on the Dracula mythos with heavy period stylings.



I also reached for a newer take on Frankenstein lore with The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster. It offers some challenging themes of timely importance and a keen visual style. The only factor that left me wanting more was in the story's trajectory. Plenty to offer by way of clear filmmaker perspective though!



For something on the werewolf side of things, I turned the dial to Late Phases where a blind veteran takes up new residence in a retirement community and immediately faced with a beastly local secret with a monthly penchant for murder. Really dug this one which didn't feel trapped by typical lycanthropic formulas.



Blindness, neighborly stalkers, and Jennifer Jason Leigh seem to pervade my watches this past month, and all those themes collide as one in Eyes of a Stranger. This one stretches the limits of suspending disbelief on reasonable protagonist decisions, but the climax is harrowing.



Switched gears to something more post-apocalyptic with Damnation Alley, but the screen adaptation proved to be a shallowed version of an already thinly stretched book. More in my review on Letterboxd.

A ★★ review of Damnation Alley (1977)

While not classified as a horror movie, I figured if Damnation Alley was enough like its source material it would feature enough survivalist/genre elements to qualify for a HoopTober X pick. Thirty years after a nuclear apocalypse split the inhabitable U.S. in two, a dwindling group of survivors...

boxd.it

Lastly, needed some quick filler before I bounce for my show shortly, so we threw on Vampires on Bikini Beach, mostly because it got spoofed on Dragula. Complete nonsense and not worth anyone's time.



Gotta run and see Soft Kill now, k bye.

 

[zomgbear]

It's been a productive couple days in costume construction land, so here's a quick roundup before I run out to my late Soft Kill show.

My Spooky Season challenge yesterday was a 65–70 minute horror movie, and I answered that with two!

The first was Womaneater with old-school black & white sci-fi/adventure themes. An intrepid explorer co-opts a tribal means of bringing the dead back to life—a monstrous tree-beast that secretes a life-giving serum but only when fed a live woman. It's a pretty boring movie, mostly revolving around a police investigation into the recent disappearances of local women.

View attachment 185208

My second brisk movie was The Snake Woman, a far more entertaining offering but mostly for unintentional reasons. A rural herpetologist claims to have uncovered powerful healing properties in snake venom to soothe his ailing, pregnant wife. She gives birth to a cold-blooded child and promptly dies upon first setting eyes on her. I almost died with laughter. The dialogue describes a monstrosity with no eyelids—you'd expect a baby Voldemort—but when they cut to the baby, it looks perfectly normal yet the mother gasps and dies. Anyways, the midwife turns out to be the local witch who riles up the crowd who destroy the doctor's manor in search of the infant who was stolen away to safety. Decades later, locals begin dying from venomous snake bites, and the hunt for the serpentine legend continues.

View attachment 185207

Between those two, I opted for an odd looking thriller starring Jennifer Jason Leigh who is a troubled young woman that comes into ownership of a sex club from her late uncle. As her renovation begins, she's beset by strange and harrowing events that bring her grasp of reality into question. It's got a weird build, but proved intriguing.

View attachment 185209

Noticed Xfinity gave us access to the MGM+ library this week, so snuck my chance to check Windows off my watchlist. It's an okay thriller about a sexual assault survivor who is then besieged by an unknown stalker.

View attachment 185206

In my search for background nonsense, we then tossed on Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout which is half clip reel, half campy exercise routine. For how short it is, it's also a test of patience during several sequences.

View attachment 185205

We closed out last night with Dr. Giggles and its nonsensical slasher premise. Far too many medical puns, though.

View attachment 185204

Heart of darkness on my list too!

 

[Selaws]

20. Cube .5

A Japanese language remake of a Canadian film. This is a bit of an annoying one as the premise was great but it just fizzled into nothing with no real ending to it. A real shame as well.



21. Saw X .5

I generally thought this was a decent film and had much more of a story than some of the others. In fact, there's almost less of an emphasis on the gruesome "games" than the other films (there's still plenty).



22. The Fall Of The House Of Usher

As far as horror TV shows go, I really enjoyed this one. Not an overly scary horror series but it builds well and the narrative definitely kept me interested throughout.

 

[zomgbear]

20. Ouija - Origin of Evil
Wasn't bad! Disclaimer, I've never seen the original Ouija because it looks terrible. This one was directed by Mike Flanagan - so thought it was worth a shot. I really liked most of this movie - probably about 3/4th of this movie was good. The ending falls off a bit though and doesn't make any sense to me. Still worth a watch IMO

21. The Monster Squad
This movie is really wacky. It felt like it was written by a grade school bully from the 80/90's. Some pretty offensive dialogue right off the bat. The movie seems like it was written as a kids movie but then again there's some crazy violence / language that goes long with it like Dracula blowing up a police car with dynamite with a cop still inside. Wolfman being blown to bits with another dynamite. The kid shooting the lagoon monster at point blank with the shotgun. The kids dad just comes in hot firing wildly with his gun. . A lot of it actually comes off kind of funny how how ridiculous it is.

This scene here though where dracula calls the little girl a bitch unwarranted :

 

[Melt Face Molly Drop]

22. The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Mike Flanagan can do no wrong IMO. His repeat casting (this is probably called something) reminds me of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story. The Haunting of Hill House was legitimately one of scariest things I’ve seen.

Still need to check out the rest of his movie catalog (have seen Doctor Sleep)

 

[EvanBenner]

20. Ouija - Origin of Evil
Wasn't bad! Disclaimer, I've never seen the original Ouija because it looks terrible. This one was directed by Mike Flanagan - so thought it was worth a shot. I really liked most of this movie - probably about 3/4th of this movie was good. The ending falls off a bit though and doesn't make any sense to me. Still worth a watch IMO

You did it right. Ouija is infuriatingly bland, but Flanagan worked some magic with his loose prequel. Origin of Evil is all anyone needs to see of that franchise.

Mike Flanagan can do no wrong IMO. His repeat casting (this is probably called something) reminds me of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story. The Haunting of Hill House was legitimately one of scariest things I’ve seen.

Still need to check out the rest of his movie catalog (have seen Doctor Sleep)

I only have a few of his earliest movies left, and everything of his that I've logged has easily earned a "like" on Letterboxd. Even Absentia which I feel benefits from knowing the later signatures that both Haunting series and Oculus and Gerald's Game demonstrate so well.

 

[Ghost]

This might be the most fun I've had this spooky season. Its been a while since I've found a movie as genuinely charming and funny. My wife and I were laughing non-stop. Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis are just incredible to watch in this one, you can tell everyone was having a blast. Definitely a Halloween time classic for me going forward.

 

[avecigrec]

This might be the most fun I've had this spooky season. Its been a while since I've found a movie as genuinely charming and funny. My wife and I were laughing non-stop. Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis are just incredible to watch in this one, you can tell everyone was having a blast. Definitely a Halloween time classic for me going forward.

View attachment 185440

I haven't seen this since it was in theaters!

 

[Selaws]

23. Split

Decided to rewatch this film for the first time in a while and it still impresses me. Really fantastic acting from James McAvoy and the tension just keeps building.



24. Herd

I watched this zombie horror film on a whim and it was really dry for the first hour. It jumps up a bit after this point when 2 factions begin fighting/raiding each other for resources. Honestly though, it didn't blow me away.

 

[LeeVing]

Well - I was planning for a Last Shift / Malum double feature, but it seems that Terror Vision is a bit delayed with the 4K release I pre-ordered. So I'll just have to watch the original for now.

 

[zomgbear]

Well - I was planning for a Last Shift / Malum double feature, but it seems that Terror Vision is a bit delayed with the 4K release I pre-ordered. So I'll just have to watch the original for now.

I liked it. Will check out malum soon too

 

[avecigrec]

Still haven't been watching any movies, but have read some more seasonally appropriate comics....



Something is Killing the Children vols. 1-6 by James Tynion IV & Werther Dell'Edera
...is an absolute masterpiece! Monsters are real, and the people who hunt them are also quite terrifying. This series is some of the absolute best comics I've read in a long time, and I like to think I read a lot of good comics!



House of Slaughter vols. 1-3 by James Tynion IV & Tate Brombal and Werther Dell‘Edera & Chris Shehan
...expands the world of Something is Killing the Children quite nicely. Fluctuates a little in quality here and there and definitely not as intense or scary but is an excellent companion piece and worthwhile read.

 

[LeeVing]

21. The Monster Squad

It's been ages since I've watched it...but I think I'm going to later this morning after I finish the OST.

 

[zomgbear]

22. May
I liked it! It's a bit of an uncomfortable watch maybe because of how relatable some of it is. It's not really scary but it's funny in a dark humor type of way and sad IMO. It's weird but i like weird. And strangely kinda sweet lol quotes from the movie

 

[Selaws]

25. Night Of The Hunted

I really enjoyed the concept behind this film - a deranged marksman pinning someone in a petrol station. However, the writing was sloppy at times and the ending is a bit of a letdown, otherwise I would have rated it higher.



26. Five Nights At Freddy's

We watched this earlier today and were pleasantly surprised. I have not played the games before but I'm loosely aware of the premise. Once you get over the cartoonish animatronics (which I completely understand is a large part of the premise, its a really fun over the top film. I might rate it slightly lower if I was to watch it again, but I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it I decided to go with 4.



27. World War Z .5

Now here is a film that I have watched several times before but its been a while since my last watch. Still really enjoy it, the idea of zombie hordesi s so underdone but it works so well.

 

[Hemotep]

25. Night Of The Hunted

I really enjoyed the concept behind this film - a deranged marksman pinning someone in a petrol station. However, the writing was sloppy at times and the ending is a bit of a letdown, otherwise I would have rated it higher.

View attachment 185878

26. Five Nights At Freddy's

We watched this earlier today and were pleasantly surprised. I have not played the games before but I'm loosely aware of the premise. Once you get over the cartoonish animatronics (which I completely understand is a large part of the premise, its a really fun over the top film. I might rate it slightly lower if I was to watch it again, but I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it I decided to go with 4.

View attachment 185879

27. World War Z .5

Now here is a film that I have watched several times before but its been a while since my last watch. Still really enjoy it, the idea of zombie hordesi s so underdone but it works so well.

View attachment 185880

I watched those first two yesterday and agree on both counts.

 

[Selaws]

28. Dark Harvest .5
A fantastic premise that was really original, let down by a disappointing ending in my opinion. It could have been a really fantastic film overall but it left to many unanswered questions and the ending wasn't great.



29. Patient Zero .5
Continuing the run of decent films with disappointing endings, this one is definitely up there. I have seen this film before and it was generally interesting with a great concept but it has an incredibly open ending that begged for a follow up that never actually came.



30. Last Night In Soho

I have been meaning to watch this film for a while now and finally got around to it tonight. I had heard that the ending was disappointing but I actually quite liked it and thought it wrapped up nicely. I also think it helped that I work in many of the places shown so I have that local connection which added intrigue.