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Post by guttersnipe on Oct 1, 2023 13:55:53 GMT -8
Hi all, and apologies for my recent absence (there'll be more of that; I'm moving and switching jobs in the middle of this month). Now it seems like every year I feel like maybe life is getting in the way and perhaps I'll call *this* October Challenge my last. But like any good monster, it just won't stay dead and they make a sequel! I've got a roster lined up, and maybe they won't all be crap!
1) The Headless Horseman (1922, Edward D. Venturini) - 4/10 2) Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954, Wyott Ordung) - 3/10 3) Man Beast (1956, Jerry Warren) - 3/10 4) Creature of the Walking Dead (1965, Jerry Warren) - 5/10 5) The Manster (1959, George P. Breakston and Kenneth G. Crane) - 4/10 6) The Creature Walks Among Us (1956, John Sherwood) - 5/10 7) The Exorcist: Believer (2023, David Gordon Green) - 6/10 8) If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971, Ron Ormond) - 3/10 9) The Burning Hell (1974, Ron Ormond) - 2/10 10) The Grim Reaper (1976, Ron Ormond) - 2/10 11) Teenage Zombies (1959, Jerry Warren) - 2/10 12) Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967, Jean Yarbrough) - 3/10 13) Images (1972, Robert Altman) - 7/10 14) Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Thumb vs. the Monsters (1962, Roberto Rodriguez) - 3/10 15) There's Nothing Out There (1991, Rolfe Kanefsky) - 5/10 16) Good Manners (2017, Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas) - 6/10 17) Lamb (2021, Valdimar Jóhannsson) - 6/10 18) The Other Lamb (2019, Malgorzata Szumowska) - 6/10 19) Halloween Kills (2021, David Gordon Green) - 5/10 20) Evil Dead Rise (2023, Lee Cronin) - 6/10 21) The Ruins (2008, Carter Smith) - 6/10 22) Death Note (2017, Adam Wingard) - 6/10 23) The Screaming Skull (1958, Alex Nicol) - 5/10 24) Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973, Ted V. Mikels) - 4/10 25) Long Weekend (1978, Colin Eggleston) - 7/10 26) Slice (2018, Austin Vesely) - 4/10 27) Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959, William J. Hole Jr.) - 3/10 28) The Bride and the Beast (1958, Adrian Weiss) - 4/10 29) Calling Dr. Death (1943, Reginald Le Borg) - 5/10 30) Candyman (2021, Nia DaCosta) - 6/10 31) Multiple Maniacs (1970, John Waters) - 5/10 CHALLENGE SURPASSED BUT INCOMPLETE 32) The Brain Eaters (1958, Bruno VeSota) - 5/10 33) House of the Black Death (1971, Jerry Warren, Reginald Le Borg and Harold Daniels) - 4/10 34) Day the World Ended (1955, Roger Corman) - 5/10 35) The Head (1959, Victor Trivas) - 4/10 36) I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958, Gene Fowler Jr.) - 6/10 37) Halley (2012, Sebastián Hofmann) - 6/10 38) The Wizard of Mars (1965, David L. Hewitt) - 3/10 39) The Slime People (1963, Robert Hutton) - 4/10 40) Invasion of the Animal People (1959, Virgil W. Vogel and Jerry Warren) - 4/10 41) Giant from the Unknown (1958, Richard E. Cunha) - 4/10 42) Zontar, the Thing from Venus (1967, Larry Buchanan) - 3/10 43) The Devil's Hand (1961, William J. Hole Jr.) - 6/10 44) Attack of the Mayan Mummy (1964, Jerry Warren and Rafael Portillo) - 4/10 45) Curse of the Stone Hand (1965, Jerry Warren, Carlos Hugo Christensen and Carlos Schlieper) - 5/10 46) Face of the Screaming Werewolf (1964, Jerry Warren, Rafael Portillo and Gilberto Martínez Solares) - 2/10 47) Knife + Heart (2018, Yann Gonzalez) - 6/10 48) The She-Creature (1956, Edward L. Cahn) - 5/10 49) Zombies of Mora Tau (1957, Edward L. Cahn) - 5/10 50) Voodoo Woman (1957, Edward L. Cahn) - 4/10 51) Talk to Me (2022, Danny and Michael Philippou) - 6/10 52) Gwleđđ (2021, Lee Haven Jones) - 7/10 or maybe 8/10
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 2, 2023 17:40:07 GMT -8
Believe it or not, I look forward to this every year. I admire your commitment to soldiering through the annals of shlocky old horror films, no matter how cheesy and/or bad they are.
I'm probably going to watch a lot of horror films myself this month (likely more mainstream than the ones you're checking out). I generally try to stick to those that have decent reputations, although if I get hooked on a franchise (e.g. Nightmare on Elm Street), I'm fine with checking out the clunkers.
I kicked off this October by watching Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Not my best decision! Hopefully I'll make better ones in the coming weeks.
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Post by guttersnipe on Oct 3, 2023 12:59:58 GMT -8
Hey Jer! Part of the Challenge for me is creating a kind of sub-task in which I trawl through basically anything from the 1950s in the hope of pleasant surprises.
6) The Creature Walks Among Us (1956, John Sherwood) - 5/10
Needless to say, they're few and far between.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 3, 2023 18:02:31 GMT -8
Well, best of luck. The films I watch this month will mostly be from the '80s onward, and will probably be a mix of elevated horror and junky slashers, with some run-of-the-mill mainstream horror thrown in. Trying to find the right balance between highbrow and lowbrow.
And I'm aiming to hit a total of 31 horror films this month. (Might have to give the definition some flexibility to hit that mark - would the new Poirot film qualify?)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Oct 4, 2023 3:53:54 GMT -8
Yay! Hi! This is arguably my favorite CT annual tradition. And I actually have some recommendations for you, in terms of "movies I'd had on my to-watch list that I can't find on DVD that I'm sure are available via Very Private Needs"
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) - a redub of a film by the director of Godzilla, apparently, which is (APPARENTLY!) a good midpoint between the original film's political allegory and the weirdness of later kaiju outings PHASE IV (1974) - aka Saul Bass's only film as a director, about a deadly marabunta or something? We're Going to Eat you (1980) - somewhat obscure Tsui Hark flick that uses cannibals as a metaphor for communism, scored by the Suspiria dudes
A couple Miike films, all of which I suspect you've seen already admittedly. (Is there a good starting place for him? What about the musical about the haunted house?)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Oct 4, 2023 3:54:08 GMT -8
And LMAO, love the Nandor avatar
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Post by guttersnipe on Oct 4, 2023 14:48:18 GMT -8
Well, best of luck. The films I watch this month will mostly be from the '80s onward, and will probably be a mix of elevated horror and junky slashers, with some run-of-the-mill mainstream horror thrown in. Trying to find the right balance between highbrow and lowbrow. And I'm aiming to hit a total of 31 horror films this month. (Might have to give the definition some flexibility to hit that mark - would the new Poirot film qualify?) Nice, pleased you've taken up the Challenge too. And yes, I've no doubt that A Haunting in Venice would qualify (in fact, I may have the chance to see it myself before the month's out). It's clarified as such on IMDb, but even then the genre is a broad umbrella; no-one took issue with me watching Mad Monster Party? or I Married a Witch several years ago as it's more of a topical than tonal definition. Obviously there's a world of difference between A Serbian Film and Muppets Haunted Mansion, but both fit conceivably within the criteria. Yay! Hi! This is arguably my favorite CT annual tradition. And I actually have some recommendations for you, in terms of "movies I'd had on my to-watch list that I can't find on DVD that I'm sure are available via Very Private Needs" Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) - a redub of a film by the director of Godzilla, apparently, which is (APPARENTLY!) a good midpoint between the original film's political allegory and the weirdness of later kaiju outings PHASE IV (1974) - aka Saul Bass's only film as a director, about a deadly marabunta or something? We're Going to Eat you (1980) - somewhat obscure Tsui Hark flick that uses cannibals as a metaphor for communism, scored by the Suspiria dudes
A couple Miike films, all of which I suspect you've seen already admittedly. (Is there a good starting place for him? What about the musical about the haunted house?)
Hey Bosc! You may not be surprised to discover I've seen all of those except We're Going to Eat You (though I briefly thought you might be talking about Wilson Yip's film Bio-Zombie, which I have). I suspect the haunted house Miike you're talking about is The Happiness of the Katakuris, but I don't think you actually need a starting place with him because he voluntarily denies auteur status, claiming he simply tinkers willy-nilly with the scripts he receives (he hardly ever writes his films) due to on-set boredom and general lack of supervision from his producers and networks, which might inadvertently be the most auteurish thing I've ever heard. You can see my rankings for him here, and though I've seen more from Hitchcock and Woody Allen I could always put in the effort and easily surpass their filmographies with Miike's output. And LMAO, love the Nandor avatar I've actually sat on it for a year as I intended to switch my Wednesday avatar partway through last October and simply forgot.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 4, 2023 18:26:22 GMT -8
Nice, pleased you've taken up the Challenge too. And yes, I've no doubt that A Haunting in Venice would qualify (in fact, I may have the chance to see it myself before the month's out). It's clarified as such on IMDb, but even then the genre is a broad umbrella; no-one took issue with me watching Mad Monster Party? or I Married a Witch several years ago as it's more of a topical than tonal definition. Obviously there's a world of difference between A Serbian Film and Muppets Haunted Mansion, but both fit conceivably within the criteria. Reminds me a little of the "Is Die Hard a Christmas film?" debate*. I figure as long as it's got some tenuous horror or Halloween connection ( Haunting in Venice is based off Agatha Christie's "Hallowe'en Party," after all), it's fair game. I made a list on Letterboxd to track my progress throughout the month. I don't often take advantage of their list feature, but it's a handy service to keep my films organized and post brief, quasi-snarky reviews to go with them. Can't think of a snappier title at the moment, so I'm sticking with "October Challenge" till something better comes; hope you don't mind. *The correct answer, of course, is that Die Hard is not a Christmas film. But Die Hard 2 is.
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Post by ThirdMan on Oct 4, 2023 19:11:08 GMT -8
Damn, Jeremy did not like Beau Is Afraid (heh). I thought it was meandering and very self-indulgent (particularly in the middle), but that it still had some visual invention and general weirdness (especially in the first hour) to recommend it on some levels. But it's a tough watch for some folks, to be sure. And the thing in Beau's mom's attic was....certainly not subtle (LOL).
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 5, 2023 6:40:30 GMT -8
I'd agree that the first hour of Beau is Afraid was the strongest, and I was kind of jiving with the general weirdness of the scenes showcasing Beau's hapless home life. But it just goes on, and on, and on, long past the point of any lasting relevance or meaning, before devolving into total ridiculousness with... that scene near the end.
I think I had a slightly better time with it than Midsommar, which did not work for me on any level. But in general, I'm not aboard the Ari Aster hype train.
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Post by guttersnipe on Oct 5, 2023 11:32:47 GMT -8
Can't think of a snappier title at the moment, so I'm sticking with "October Challenge" till something better comes; hope you don't mind. Oh, it's not my title; it was an annual event on IMDb for at least fifteen years and possibly even predates the Internet. After he closure of their message boards the concept simply got shared around Reddit, Letterboxd, Facebook etc, usually under the same banner for familiarity's sake. 7) The Exorcist: Believer (2023, David Gordon Green) - 6/10 (watched at 8AM, no less.)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Oct 5, 2023 13:37:29 GMT -8
I'd agree that the first hour of Beau is Afraid was the strongest, and I was kind of jiving with the general weirdness of the scenes showcasing Beau's hapless home life. But it just goes on, and on, and on, long past the point of any lasting relevance or meaning, before devolving into total ridiculousness with... that scene near the end. Yeah, I really dug the apocalyptic tenor of the film's beginning - there's a pretty straight delineation between the film's five "acts," and each one is worse than the last. My main takeaway from the film is that I might have underrated Magnolia, which I felt similarly dragged after the first hour on account of how screamy the movie's beginning was. Biggest disappointment of the year, imo. Can't think of a snappier title at the moment, so I'm sticking with "October Challenge" till something better comes; hope you don't mind. Oh, it's not my title; it was an annual event on IMDb for at least fifteen years and possibly even predates the Internet. After he closure of their message boards the concept simply got shared around Reddit, Letterboxd, Facebook etc, usually under the same banner for familiarity's sake. 7) The Exorcist: Believer (2023, David Gordon Green) - 6/10 (watched at 8AM, no less.) I'm kind of curious how many Exorcist films you've watched, since there are apparently... a lot of them, and their reputation is mostly negative. And probably correctly! I watched the first one recently, and was surprised how little it resembled a horror film in the sense that a modern horror movie has very obvious genre pinnings that it feels the need to establish early on. Whereas The Exorcist is willing to dick around in Iraq for twenty minutes, then spends way more time than you'd expect dealing with the personal life of this semi-successful actress and single mom, and really doesn't make elaborate on any of its "lore" - you can absolutely read it as a movie about a mom who comes unraveled as her daughter contracts a mysterious illness or undergoes puberty or some sort of metaphor like that. That in my mind is what makes the movie so cool, actually. I am... skeptical this new movie shows any such restraint.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 5, 2023 17:46:12 GMT -8
I believe I've mentioned this before, but I never fully clicked with The Exorcist. It's a good film, and Linda Blair is of course great, but I found much of the film to be meandering and disengaging (particularly all that relates to the murder mystery). Maybe I shouldn't have gone in expecting it to be the scariest movie of all time. Haven't seen any of the sequels, but I don't think it's coincidence that the new film apparently ignores them completely and is written as a direct sequel to the original (similar to what David Gordon Green did with his Halloween trilogy). Oh, it's not my title; it was an annual event on IMDb for at least fifteen years and possibly even predates the Internet. After he closure of their message boards the concept simply got shared around Reddit, Letterboxd, Facebook etc, usually under the same banner for familiarity's sake. Oh yes, I kind of remember that. Looks to be quite popular on Letterboxd, even now.
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Post by guttersnipe on Oct 6, 2023 12:12:53 GMT -8
I'm kind of curious how many Exorcist films you've watched, since there are apparently... a lot of them, and their reputation is mostly negative. And probably correctly! I watched the first one recently, and was surprised how little it resembled a horror film in the sense that a modern horror movie has very obvious genre pinnings that it feels the need to establish early on. Whereas The Exorcist is willing to dick around in Iraq for twenty minutes, then spends way more time than you'd expect dealing with the personal life of this semi-successful actress and single mom, and really doesn't make elaborate on any of its "lore" - you can absolutely read it as a movie about a mom who comes unraveled as her daughter contracts a mysterious illness or undergoes puberty or some sort of metaphor like that. That in my mind is what makes the movie so cool, actually. I am... skeptical this new movie shows any such restraint. Well, I am such a fan of the original Exorcist that it's one of the unusual times in which I've actually bothered to watch all the series, such are the dimishing returns one expects of a horror franchise. But the new film is actually closer in approach than most of its sequels, and not just because DGG repeated his own Halloween trick by bringing back the original heroine for a more 'direct' pseudo-sophomore. Not only is there a consistent dramatic parallel with the character arcs, there's a nice touch with some repeated motifs in the film, such as a moment when the sceptic father is positioned in front of a large frame-hogging window is called back with a bit when a believer character mistakes the lights of various police cars outside the front door for a divine prescence towards the end of the film (indeed, the unlikelihood of a pro-faith argument in a disbelieving 21st century is pretty admirable). Also, the use of (non-diegetic?) whispers to underpin the possessions fair jangled the old nerves. Less successful is the heavy reliance on jump-scares, which feel like more of a genre imposition than anything organic to, as you say, more of a metaphorical drama than a horror film. And I won't spoil anything, but the actual use of Ellen Burstyn emerges a bit cheap and frankly unfair on the original character. Also, it's not really his fault but there's one actor who looks way too much like Tom Arnold to not take me out of the picture every time he appears. But on the whole, I found it pretty solid. Now, if you want a real sequel, look no further than The Exorcist III: Legion; if you want a thoroughly spoiled evening, look no further than the blue-balls borefest that is Exorcist II: The Heretic. But if it's untimigated Christploitation you're after... 8) If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971, Ron Ormond) - 3/10 9) The Burning Hell (1974, Ron Ormond) - 2/10 10) The Grim Reaper (1976, Ron Ormond) - 2/10
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Oct 6, 2023 18:18:53 GMT -8
Hahahahahahahaha, one of my friends was just telling me about these Ron Ormond movies. He's a big fan, apparently!!
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