Day 31: Favorite horror movie of all

Halloween.

Was there ever any doubt?

Was a fun challenge!
Hope you enjoyed it, too!

Day 30: Your favorite final scene, scare, or image

Two classic ends I like:

Alice in the boat at the (almost) end of Friday the 13th.


Look out, Alice!

~ and ~

Dr. Loomis looking out at the empty yard at the end of Halloween.

The view Loomis does not see.

Day 29: A great horror movie with a terrible cast

I am at a loss for this one.

No idea.

Day 28: A horror movie that is hard to watch

I could easily go with the obvious - Rob Zombie's Halloween.

But instead I will put the "torture porn" films here.

Hostel, Saw II and on, and their sadistic cousins.

I like being scared, but in films like these,
wincing and needing to look away isn't the same thing as being frightened.

Day 27: A terrifying creature

So many to choose from, but I settled on four!

How about The Creeper from Jeepers Creepers:

Or the Zuni doll from Trilogy of Terror:

Or the Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

Or these abominations from The Wizard of Oz:

Good luck sleeping tonight!

Day 26: An aggravatingly incompetent protagonist

I will have to go with Renny from Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan.

Damn, she is pretty useless. And yet, she lives!

Day 25: Excellent use of soundtrack

Always back the great Halloween.



The music adds so much to this film. Empty hallways and deserted staircases take on a whole new level of eeriness when the Halloween music is playing.

Day 24: An effective jump scare

Have yet to see this entire film, but this is just a damn good jump scare:



from Exorcist III

Day 23: Graphics that pull you out of the movie

The Puppet Master films

Okay, sorry. I know some people love these movies, but those puppets have never been scary to me. Too cheesy and it takes the horror out of the films for me.

Muppet Trailer

Looks fun! Can't wait!

Day 22: A frightening child actor

Frightening, eh?

Going with Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther from Orphan

I actually thought the actress was a young-looking adult just playing old,
but she was only 10 when cast as Esther and turned 11 during filming!

She is quite a talented kid! Esther was DAMN creepy!

Day 21: A horror movie that only makes you laugh

Going with Leprechaun

Sorry, I just cannot take these movies seriously or
see the "evil" Leprechaun as a scary villain.
Just can't do it.

Day 20: A great remake

I have two I could choose here:

The Friday the 13th remake wasn't the perfect remake fans were hoping for, but I think it is better than a lot of people give it credit for. I like it, and I definitely thinks it is better than some of the later F13 sequels. Yes, I'm talking about you, Jason Takes Manhattan!

The House of Wax remake gets scoffed at and I really don't know why! Yes, Paris Hilton is in it, but she gets offed in a very satisfying way. And the rest of the film is just creepy greatness. Quite good!

Day 19: A horror movie that gives you nightmares

Once again, my choice is Halloween

Even though the film is over thirty years old, I still enjoy it and, yes, still have nightmares that involve Michael Myers.

Not the Myers who became a joke by the time Halloween: Resurrection came about. I am talking about the truly creepy, truly unsettling, unexplained and determined maniac from the beginning.

He's the stuff nightmares are made of.

Day 18: A movie with unsettling scenery

Going with the 2005 remake of House of Wax.

A town full of wax-covered corpses. A home/museum made entirely out of wax, which then burns and melts as the last survivors try to escape. This movie doesn't get the creepy, eerie credit it deserves!

Day 17: A bad ass post/pre-kill one-liner

I am not a fan of the "quipping killer".
Freddy Kreuger goes over the top for me, with his jokes and puns and props.

So, for this one, I am going to the end of Halloween (1978):

Laurie: [after Michael falls off the balcony] It was the boogeyman.

Dr. Loomis: As a matter of fact... it was.

Day 16: A frightening dream sequence/hallucination

This was easy:

Day 15: A painfully suspenseful movie

Was unsure which film to post,
but my wife suggested the original Saw,
and I think that is a good choice.



Further films in the series might have relied more on the gore/torture, but the original film was truly something great, and the twists and turns were nail-biting.

Day 14: An egregious misuse of the “based on true events” claim

Guess I will go with The Amityville Horror, since the 'true story' behind it all has been pretty much revealed as a hoax.

Day 13: A formidable antagonist

Gotta go with Mr. Voorhees himself.

After all, it is Friday the 13th!

Day 12: Horror movie plot you would least like to end up in

Any of the SAW films.

And I think you all know why.

Day 11: Wonderful use of lighting

Going to go with Halloween (1978) once again.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

There are other moments, but you get the idea.

Love the "lurking in the shadows" eeriness this film has.

Day 10: A bad first movie with a great sequel

Haven't been able to come up with one for this day.

The trend with horror flicks is to go from good to bad, not usually the other way.

I am at a loss.

Movie Review: Dahmer vs. Gacy

Received a screener copy of "Dahmer vs. Gacy" to watch & review.

Here's the info on the film:

Deep within a secret government lab, Dr. Hess (Art LaFleur, Field of Dreams, Maverick) is obsessively working to create the ultimate killer by combining the DNA of two of the world’s most infamous serial murderers, Jeffrey Dahmer (Ford Austin, The Wright Stuff, Grappling With Your Demons) and John Wayne Gacy (Randal Malone, The Curse of Lizzie Borden, Creepies 2).

All hell is unleashed when a freak accident allows their escape … and the only hope of stopping the carnage is Ringo, a holy, buckets-of-crazy soldier “trained by God” (voiced by Harland Williams, The Whole Nine Yards, Dumb and Dumber) who enters battle with a shotgun in one hand and a whiskey bottle in the other.

As Ringo embarks on a road trip to hell, he confronts an army of Japanese ninjas, a super serial killer (Ethan Phillips, Star Trek: Voyager, Benson) and his own demons before the ultimate, bloody showdown.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went into this with no preconceived notions,
just hoping to watch a great new horror flick.

Sadly, I didn't get that experience.

The plot is so flimsy, mishandled and weak that I was way past bored by the time the two killers actually start sharing the screen for their "epic" showdown.

And what a letdown that confrontation is. Poorly acted, directed and choreographed, the film just doesn't deliver on anything. Most of the dialogue feels improvised by the actors, and not in a good way.

By the time you reach the end, you aren't expecting anything worthwhile anymore. You are just hoping the credits roll so you can put this in the rear view and never look back.

If you are looking for a new, good horror film, look elsewhere. If you like low-grade, slapdash gore films, then this is for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This film is being released on DVD today, May 10, 2011
from Walking Shadows and Virgil Films

Cast: Ford Austin, Art LaFleur, Randal Malone, Ethan Phillips,
Harland Williams, Peter Zhmutski, Felissa Rose

Director: Ford Austin

Story: Chris Watson

Screenplay: Andrew J. Rausch

Not Rated

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 09: A movie that you like to introduce to people

Spider Baby from 1968!

This is a movie I hadn't heard of until a few years ago when TCM Underground played it

On the first viewing, I wasn't sure how to feel. It was so much better than I had been prepared for!

So, I waited and watched it again. And I loved it.

It isn't your typical scary movie, but it has its creepy, unsettling moments and the basic plot is one of despair and sadness. Every member of the Merrye family faces a tragic fate and there isn't anything they can do about it.

Lon Chaney Jr. gives one of the best performances of his career here, as the man who has made it his life work to take care of the Merrye "children" and make sure they live a life that is free from ridicule and institutionalization. But it isn't easy for him, as these "kids" are handful!

If you haven't seen this one, find it. It is on Netflix Instant right now, so what are you waiting for? GO!

Here is the Official Site for Spider Baby

Day 08: A terrifying inanimate object

Jason's mask

Day 07: An incredibly twisted movie

One choice for this one:

Phantasm and its sequels are just the weirdest, hard to follow, scifi/horror films ever.

So bizarre.

Day 06: Doesn’t seem to scare other people as much as it scares you

Could go with a few different movies, I suppose. But I have to choose one, so:

Jeepers Creepers has quite a few unnerving, scary scenes and an overall feeling of unease. Lost some of its kick in the sequel, but the original is a good scary movie.

Day 05: Excellent use of sound effects

I really don't know which horror movie to choose for this challenge day.

Phantasm and its sequels have some weird sound effects.

Maybe Halloween III: Season of the Witch, with this:



Good enough.

Day 04: Movie that kills off countless main/named characters

Going to go with Jason X.

Not only does Jason kill 25 characters, he is responsible for two other characters who give up their lives because of him AND 60 Marines and the ENTIRE population of the Solaris space station.

Countless indeed.

Info from Friday the 13th Films

Day 03: A scene or image burned into your mind

The thing that really gets me in horror flicks is when the killer notices the hero/heroine/victim.

Hard to explain, but it is that fleeting, unsettling moment when the hero/heroine just knows the killer is aware of their presence.

Halloween had a few examples:

There was a similar scene in Jeepers Creepers as Darry and Trish drove by the Creeper's church as he dumped a body. He stopped and watched as they drove by:

Something about going from that eerie, 'something's-not-quite-right' feeling to actually connecting with the maniac on the loose just gives me the creeps!

Fringe Season Finale

Any one else excited?

Day 02: A disappointing or unnecessary remake

Rob Zombie’s Halloween.

‘Nuff said.

31 Day Horror Movie Challenge

Doing this challenge over at my Tumblr blog and figured I would post here, as well.

Day 01: A horror movie that delivered a scary theater experience

I wasn’t able to see Halloween in theaters when it was first released, back in ‘78. But in 2006 the film was re-released in theaters for two nights - October 30th & 31st. My wife and I went to one showing and I can honestly say I was as unsettled after seeing it then as I have been every other time I have watched it. Maybe even more so, because we had to leave the theater and go out into the night. Loved the experience and wish they would do this again, or at least with other classic films.