October 2015 Horror Movie a Day

[SJP]

Wow, is it already that time of year again?  Been busy lately and it almost passed me by...again!

Anywho, for those who know the drill, you already have an idea of what you're probably going to watch in some shape or form.  For those new to it, this is a marathon-type thing to prepare for the season by watching a Horror Movie a Day.  The rules are pretty lax (except for those years where we had achievements for watching stuff, but I figured this year might just be worth just seeing what challenges come up), but here they are:

1. The definition of what constitutes a 'horror' film are wide, but common sense rules the day.  Psycho counts, even though it is mostly suspense, while Army of Darkness also counts, even though it has comedic elements.  However, despite the frightening image on the movie poster or its numerous creepy naked butt shots, The Room does not count.

2. "Front-loading" does not count...if you try to get ahead and watch 2 in a day in order to skip, only one counts.  However, if you MISS a day, you ARE allowed to make it up the next.  The idea is to let it flow naturally through the month, not get it all out of the way early.  On the other hand, this way allows for those who have busy schedules to make up for it.  Each day missed DOES build up, so if you miss three days, you have to add three movies to the next chance you have free time.

3. Challenges may be offered, but they must be "POSITIVE" challenges...as in, they help expand the repetoire of films for people to watch or try new things, not keep people from watching others.  Essentially, if someone WANTS to try every challenge that gets offered, they should be able to do all of them; none should be contradictory.  "Watch 3 Zombie movies in a day" would work (even if only one technically counts on that day).  "Only watch zombie movies" does not.  The point is to try new things if you'd like, not stop anyone who finds comfort in blowing through two weeks on Freddy and Jason movies to feel like they can't enjoy that if they want to and still complete all the challenges.

4. All sources are fair game.  No restrictions on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, streaming...if you can find it, watch it.  Also, a movie that has been MSTed, Cinematic Titanicked, or Rifftraxed is not only completely acceptable, but encouraged.

5. Reviews are also encouraged, if you are up to it, especially if the movie is not particularly well-known.

6. Each movie in a franchise DOES count as a separate movie...you can watch the Friday the 13th movies for a week and a half and that's perfectly valid.  Just don't let it get into a rut for you.

7. The party starts October 1st at midnight, and ends October 31st at 11:59:59 PM, on YOUR PERSONAL LOCAL TIME.  As long as your final movie is started prior to then, even if you finish it after midnight, IT COUNTS.

There might be more rules I forgot, but there's not much else to worry about.  Go out and enjoy yourselves!

[Compound]

And  in case you're unclear of how this works

You can look at the 2014 thread for examples.
Or the 2013 thread.
Here's the 2012 thread.
And here's the 2011 one.
And 2010.

I'm hoping this year doesn't involve a hospital trip like last October did.

[ScottotD]

LIKE

Wasn't there an off-site page for this before, does that still exist?

[JimJ]

Going to try to do this again, though the last couple of years I've dropped out pretty early.

[ScottotD]

Starting with It Follows

[Johnny Unusual]

Watched House.  Not the 1986 fun haunted house film or the god-awful haunted house film from about 5 years ago (it's terrible).

No, this is a 1977, bizarro, whacked out, dream-like, kind of brilliant/kind of dumb Japanese horror movie.

The premise is normal enough: a girl, mad at her Dad for marrying a new woman 8 years after her mother past, decides to stay with her aunt and invites all her friends to her house.  But when they get there things are not what they seem.  OK, normal haunted house premise so far.  But the delivery is very strange.  It plays things cutesy, sweet and cheery... but also has LOTS of blood (if it wasn't for that and the occasional nudity, it would be a great horror film for kids).  The girls are practically cartoon characters with names like Gorgeous/Angel (our heroine sort of), Prof (the smart one), Fantasy (who has an active imagination), Mac (short for stomach, cause she loves to eat), Melody (who can play music), Sweetie (who, I guess, is sweet, except they're all really sweet) and Kung Fu (who can do kung fu and is easily my favourite).  These aren't descriptions for Care Bears or Pound Puppies, but characters in a horror movie.

I was expecting the overall story to be crazy and indecipherable but it is not too crazy.  It's really the way the thing is made which is crazy.  The special effects are not realistic, but the quality of unrealism ranges from brilliant to hilarious.

Apparently, a lot of the ideas came from the director's daughter, which makes sense: a lot of it feels like the kind of weird fears you have when you are a kid (one girl is smothered by futons and turned into a doll).  It really feels like it was made for a female audience.

Visually, it is also a really good looking movie: some imaginative transitions, great cinematography and colors.

Best moment: - Disembodied legs jump kick a cat painting, which begins to bleed and starts flooding the room with blood.

[Compound]

Okay, here's my running total:

Oct 1: Rubber (2010, Psychokinetic Tire)*
Oct 2: Raiders of the Lost Shark (2014, Genetically Engineered Flying Shark)*
Oct 3: Zombie Werewolf Attack (2009, Werewolves)*
Oct 4: Spawn of the Slithis (1978, Mutated Sea Monster)*
Oct 5: Killer bees/ Satsujinbachi - kirâ bî (2005,Not the bees!)*
Oct 6: Rodentz/ Altered Species (2001, Rats)*
Oct 7: Varan the Unbelievable (1962, Kaiju)*
Oct 8: Truck (1997, Trucks)*
Oct 9: Terrorvision (1986, Aliens)
Oct 10: Earth Vs the Flying Saucer (1956, Aliens in Flying Saucers)*
Oct 11: House of the Long Shadows (1983, A psychopath)*
Oct 12: Stage Fright (1981, Glass wielding nut)*
Oct 13: Popcorn (1991, face-stealing psycho)*
Oct 14: Tales from the Crypt : Ritual (2002, Haitian zombies)*
Oct 15: Deadly Blessing (1981, Incubus. No, not the band)*
Oct 16: The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966, Look at the title.)*
Oct 17: Daikaijû Gamera (1965, Giant Fire Breathing Flying Turtle) (Non-riffed)
Oct 18: The Milpitas Monster (1976, Garbage Monster)*
Oct 19: Halloween Hell (2015, Eric Roberts)*
Oct 20: Alien Valley (2015, Aliens!)*
Oct 21: Unearthed (2007, Alien)*
Oct 22: Disciples (2014, Demons)*
Oct 23: Carrie (2013, Psychic Girl)
Oct 24: The Snow Creature (1954, Yeti)*
Oct 25: Hollow's Grove (2014, Ghosts)*
Oct 26: American Poltergeist (2013, Ghosts)*
Oct 27: 7 Nights of Darkness (2010, Ghosts)*
Oct 28: The Crying Dead (2013, Ghosts)*
Oct 29: The Bay (2013, Eco Horror. And Sea lice)*
Oct 30: Dead Rising: Watchtower (2015, Zombies)*
Oct 31: Graduation Day (2015, Psycho)*
Oct 31: Kruel (2015, Psycho Ice Cream Driver)*

[Compound]

Rubber (2010)

A psychokinetic tire runs amok in a small town.

Yeah. This one's an odd one. What's more is that the whole "A Tire is killing people. WITH ITS MIND!" thing is the least odd thing about it.

See, there's a meta aspect to the film as well. At the beginning of the film we're introduced to a number of people who are apparently there to, well, watch the movie. Then the town's sheriff gives a speech about how things happen in movies for no reason. After that, the tire begins to follow a young woman and while doing so, starts killing things and then people. And the people watching comment on the happenings. Or they do until they are fed a poisoned meal by the people running the event. At that point, the sheriff stops investigating the murders since, well, the movie is over. But one of the spectators didn't eat the meal and is still watching. So the sheriff has to half-assedly continue to investigate the killer tire while being aware that being aware that he's in a movie.

It's a premise that sounds a lot better that it actually ends up being. If the film committed to being either a straight horror film about a killer tire or a meta commentary about movies, it might work but as a mashup, it never quite gels in either direction and just ends up as a mess.

Oh, the lone spectator left alive? Wings Hauser. Starting the month off with an accidental Rifftrax tie-in.

Side note: Despite a killer tire only ending up in one movie. Ever. It some how ended up as a monster in a board game.

[MrTorso]

Haven't tried this in a while so here goes:

10/01: 10/02:

[Edward J Grug III]

Is it OK to participate if you know you won't succeed?

[SJP]

Participate as best you can.  It's all about fun, after all.  It's all personal goals.

Day 1: Nosferatu (1922)
Day 2: MST3K - Track of the Moon Beast (1976/1999)
Day 3: Black Forest (2012)
Day 4: Demons (2014) (Ignore the part of the review where I said 2015; Hulu made a typo.)
Day 5: Dark Was the Night (2014)
Day 6: City of the Dead/Horror Hotel (1960)
Day 7: Ginger Snaps (2001)
Day 8: Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3D (1954)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (1941)
Day 10: Re-Animator (1985)
Day 11: Grabbers (2012)
Day 12: Dead Snow 2 - Red vs. Dead (2012)
Day 13: MST3K - The Incredible Melting Man (1977/1996)
Day 14: The Terror (1963)
Day 15: The Hole (2009)
Day 16: Pontypool (2008)
Day 17: The ABCs of Death 2 (2014)
Day 18: X Moor (2014)
Day 19: Dario Argento's Dracula (2012)
Day 20: The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (2009)
Day 21: Frankenstein's Army (2013)
Day 22: Storage 24 (2012)
Day 23: Late Phases (2014)
Day 24: MST3K - The Giant Spider Invasion (1975/1997)
Day 25: Student Bodies (1981)
Day 26: V/H/S: Viral (2014)
Day 27: Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 (1988)
Day 28: A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Day 29: Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1991)
Day 30: Bad Milo! (2013)
Day 31: Various TV specials, Halloween (1978)

[Edward J Grug III]

1. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
2. Monster House
3. The House of the Devil
4. Only Lovers Left Alive
5. Doomsday
6. The Blob
7. Onibaba
8. Triangle
9. Ghostbusters
10. The Ichabod Crane half of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad + The Lonesome Ghosts
11. Sleepy Hollow
12. The Wicker Man
13. Terror at Tenkiller (Rifftrax)
14. War of the Insects (Cinematic Titanic)
15. Beetlejuice
16. The Thing
17. King Kong
18. Diabolique
19. The Fly
20. Eyes Without a Face
21. Club Dread
22. Christine
23. Cabin Fever
24. Don't Look Now
25. It Follows
26. Halloween Party/Dracula Saved the World (Rifftrax)
27. Sharknado 2 (Rifftrax)
28. Coroline
29. The Omen

[Edward J Grug III]

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night - An indie horror romance, filmed in America, but in Iranian by an Iranian writer and director. The film is beautifully shot in black and white. It's not really scary, but it's thematically right.

We really enjoyed it. A slow film to be sure, it might not be everyone's pick for a Halloween film. It's at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes though, so it's very well received critically. It kind of feels Jim Jarmusch-y.

Recommended!

[Edward J Grug III]

It's a premise that sounds a lot better that it actually ends up being. If the film committed to being either a straight horror film about a killer tire or a meta commentary about movies, it might work but as a mashup, it never quite gels in either direction and just ends up as a mess.

Strongly agree. It's fun enough for one watch, but it doesn't really come together. It really feels very student-filmy.

[JimJ]

Day 1: Creep (2014) 3.5/5
Day 2: The Last Slumber Party (1988) (w/RiffTrax) 0.5/5 (Riff- 4.5/5)
Day 3: The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) 3/5
Day 4: Alone With Her (2006) 2/5
Day 5: Honeymoon (2014) 4/5
Day 6: Maggie (2015) 3/5
Day 6: The Purge (2013) 2/5
Day 7: The Lazarus Effect (2015) 1/5
Day 8: Fever Lake (1996) 1/5 (Riff- 3.5/5)
Day 9: Zombeavers (2014) 1.5/5
Day 10: The Sacrament (2013) 3.5/5
Day 11: Nothing  Made up for on Day 13
Day 12: The Final Girls (2015) 3/5
Day 13: Knock Knock (2015)  /5
Day 13: Starry Eyes (2014) 3.5/5
Day 14: Would You Rather? (2012) 3.5/5
Day 15: Crimson Peak (2015) 4/5
Day 16: The Signal (2007) 2/5
Day 17: The Den (2013) 3/5
Day 18: Crimson Peak (2015) 4/5
Day 18: Goosebumps (2015) 3/5
Day 19: Hotel Transylvania (2012) 2/5
Day 20: Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) 3/5
Day 21: Nothing  Made up for on Day 24
Day 22: Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) 3.5/5
Day 23: Big Ass Spider (2013) 3/5
Day 24: Mercy (2014) 1/5
Day 24: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Day 25: Nothing  Made up for on Day 26
Day 26: The Last Witch Hunter (2015) 2.5/5
Day 26: What We Do in the Shadows (2014) 4/5
Day 27: Nothing  Made up for on Day 28
Day 28: Dracula (1931) 3/5
Day 28: Dracula (1931) Spanish version 3/5
Day 29: Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) 2.5/5
Day 29: Night of the Wererooster (2015) 1.5/5
 
Creep (2014) 3.5/5
Pretty good little found footage movie.  Mark Duplass gives a really unnerving and downright creepy performance.  You can tell there's something "off" about this guy from the moment he comes on screen.  It does suffer from the same problem most found footage movies have.  It gets to a point where it's just not plausible that the lead character would continue filming rather than getting the fuck out of there. Still, I had fun with it and I really liked the ending.