October Horror Movie a Day 2023: 14th Year! Who Still Even Does This?!?

[SJP]

Back again for another year, both stopping in on the forum and doing the marathon!  Off to a good start this year, because I have the week off from work to start, but it's the latter half of the month that will come into question...life is busy as ever.

The rules, as per usual:
As always, the rules are:

1. Horror is wide ranging; anything that includes horror as a general premise, even if comedic, is fine, though movies that are jokingly horrific ("Wonder Woman 1984 is so bad, it's scary!" is not a good excuse) do not.
2. One a day, for 31 days.  It's already started as of me typing this, but go by your local time.  It started 12:01 on the 1st, ends 11:59 on the 31st.  At least, for starting movies.  If a movie runs over time by a few minutes, but you started it, it's fine.
3. Front loading (watching 3 movies to get ahead and skip two days) is not OK, but catching up (watching three movies because you missed the last two) is OK.
4. Movies in a series count as separate entries, especially considering that they KEEP MAKING HALLOWEEN MOVIES.  GOOD GRIEF!
5. New movies are encouraged, but old favorites are fine as well.
6. TV Specials are also OK (Simpsons, Peanuts, whatever you nostalgically remember).
7. Riffed versions are not only acceptable, they are encouraged!
8. Enjoy and have fun!

Movie 1: The Mutations (1974)
Movie 2: Day of the Reaper (1984)
Movie 3: Hocus Pocus (1993)
Movie 4: Garden of the Dead (1972)
Movie 5: Rifftrax: Beast of the Yellow Night (1971/2014)
Movie 6: Rifftrax: Lycan Colony (2006/2020)
Movie 7: Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
Movie 8: Rifftrax: Stitches (2001/2020)
Movie 9: Bloodbath in the House of Death (1984)
Movie 10: Pharaoh's Curse (1957)
Movie 11: Hellboy (2019)
Movie 12: Dark Tower (1987)
Movie 13: Cry of the Banshee (1970)
Movie 14: Destroyer (1988)
Movie 15: Rifftrax: Last Man on Earth (1964/2021)
Movie 16: Rifftrax: Robovampire (1988/2019)
Movie 17: Wolves (2014)
Movie 18: Rifftrax: Silent Rage (1982/2013)
Movie 19: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
Movie 20: Strange Invaders (1983)
Movie 21: Renfield (2023)
Movie 22: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Movie 23: Absurd (1981)
Movie 24: Saturn 3 (1980)
Movie 25: The Caller (1989)
Movie 26: Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007)
Movie 27: The Slayer (1982)
Movie 28: Rifftrax: The Dark Power (1985/2015)
Movie 29; Bonehill Road (2017)
Movie 30: The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
Movie 31: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown/Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1966/1985)

[Edward J Grug III]

I am pretty sure I can't do a daily run, but I will be watching horror movies all through October, so let's see how I do.

October 1 we watched La Casa Lobo (The Wolf House). A very beautiful stop motion animated film from Chile.

It's more incredibly unsettling than scary, but it definitely fits the season. It's also very artsy-fartsy, which suits us well at least.

An incredible piece of work with the animation style constantly changing. It also has very strong sound design.

If the artsy-fartsy comment doesn't put you off, this is well worth a look for stop motion animation fans.

[SJP]

The Mutations (1974)
A doctor believes the future of mankind belongs to a sort of man/plant hybrid, and goes to great lengths to create one.  However, while he does feed a cute animal to one of his plants, he does not do so in a Japanese mega-greenhouse, nor is he delayed by days...DAYS!

An interesting film.  Slow as hell, but Donald Pleasance and Tom Baker are fun to watch, and the special effects are really pretty decent.  Though I will admit, any effect that isn't created in a computer is a lot more impressive to me these days.  The aforementioned cute animal into the plant is one of the great non-sequitur moments I've seen in a horror film, though.  Also notable for Michael Dunn, who died shortly after his scenes were filmed but before the movie's release.  He played Loveless in The Wild Wild West TV show, among other appearances, and I was surprised to find out not only wasn't he British, but he actually grew up in the Detroit area.  Not a big deal to most, but as that's close to where I live, I just realized what a small world it really is.

Recommendation: Fans of slow-burn 70s suspense will enjoy, especially if you like British stuff.  Everyone else, watch the last 20 minutes for the neat-o effects.

[WhyDontTheyLook]

Sun 10/1: Saw X (2023) - Kicking off this year with a trip to the theater to see what Mister Saw is up to. This was one of the better entries in the series, putting in some new twists and, even better, giving Tobin Bell a chance to actually act. (Theater)

[Edward J Grug III]

October 2 we watched another film on MUBI - There's Nothing Out There.

A low-budget horror comedy written and directed by a 20 year old in 1990. It is a meta-comedy referencing the tropes of horror films and is often compared to Scream, saying it got there first. The director seems to believe his film inspired Scream even.

Some teens go to stay at a house in the woods, where there is an alien frog monster attacking them.

It's not roll on the floor funny, but it is amusing all of the way through, with some solid jokes here and there. We enjoyed it pretty well.

[Pastor of Muppets]

Sun 10/1: Saw X (2023) - Kicking off this year with a trip to the theater to see what Mister Saw is up to. This was one of the better entries in the series, putting in some new twists and, even better, giving Tobin Bell a chance to actually act.

Is that already out?  I just saw the trailer for it on Saturday.

[Charles Castle]

No chance of getting 1 a day this year, but I might manage 12-15 if all goes to plan.

1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018) - https://forum.rifftrax.com/index.php/topic,5210.msg1041902.html#msg1041902

[Charles Castle]

2. The Thing From Another World (1951) -
https://forum.rifftrax.com/index.php/topic,5210.msg1041905.html#msg1041905

[WhyDontTheyLook]

Sun 10/1: Saw X (2023) - Kicking off this year with a trip to the theater to see what Mister Saw is up to. This was one of the better entries in the series, putting in some new twists and, even better, giving Tobin Bell a chance to actually act.

Is that already out?  I just saw the trailer for it on Saturday.

Yeah, this past weekend was it's opening.

[WhyDontTheyLook]

Mon 10/2: Phenomena (1985) - Young Jennifer Connelly comes to Italy and is immediately endangered by a serial killer. Even though Donald Pleasance and his monkey butler are there to help, it's ultimately her ability to talk to and summon swarms of insects that... doesn't really pay off in the end. It's a mess, sure, but it's a fun mess thanks to Dario Argento's direction. Have Giallo today! (Shudder)

Tue 10/3: One Man Band: Legion (2010) - The second coming is playing out in a dingy roadside diner in the desert, and even Dennis Quaid can't stop the demons from ripping apart his patrons and some of his staff. But One Man Band can riff it, and to hilarious effect. (Riff: https://www.rifftrax.com/iriff/legion-the-one-man-band Movie: YouTube (rental))

Wed 10/4: The Cell (2000) - Haven't watched this one in a long time, even though it's one of my favorites. It's an enthralling mix of dark fantasy, horror, science fiction, and psychological thriller. Vincent D'Onofrio makes for a deeply creepy and unsettling villain. (Prime (rental))

Thu 10/5: After Effect (2012) - A group of pharmaceutical test subjects discover the test is 'can you survive being hunted by unconvincingly made up insane predators'. The good news: it's pass/fail. Weak overall, but with some entertaining kills and gore. (Tubi)

[Edward J Grug III]

October 5, we watched Night of the Creeps at our movie club. This is a fairly recent discovery for me - Seeing it for the first time last year. It's a horror comedy, but it's more gross than scary and more fun than funny - it leans into its silliness and is largely carried by Tom Atkins' exaggerated, hard-bitten, jaded cop. He uses his catchphrase twice within his first few lines of dialogue 'Thrill me.'

It was very well received at Movie Club - one of the watchers said the image of the zombie hand coming through the door had always frightened him at the video store, and was quite surprised at what the movie was having finally seen it

[Edward J Grug III]

October 6 - for Family Movie Night - We watched Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. AKA Godzilla vs the Sea Monster.

We've been working through the Criterion Godzilla set with our 10 year old - He loves them. This was my first time seeing it unriffed, and also in the original Japanese without the American edits.

Gotta say, it was a much better movie this way. It's not considered one of the best apparently, and it's certainly quite goofy, as all of the Godzilla movies are getting progressively at this point, but we had a blast with it. The way the group all get together is so silly and fun.

Not a horror movie, but I think this kind of retro 'sci fi' fits the season well.

[Charles Castle]

3. October 6 - It Came From Outer Space
https://forum.rifftrax.com/index.php/topic,5210.msg1041915.html#msg1041915

[Charles Castle]

4. October 8 - Jaws
https://forum.rifftrax.com/index.php/topic,5210.msg1041917.html#msg1041917

[WhyDontTheyLook]

Fri 10/6: Cinematic Titanic: Blood of the Vampires (1966) - Featuring a cast of Philipinos pretending to be Mexicans, this is one mess of a vampire movie. But Cinematic Titanic's riff was (and is) super-funny. (DVD)

Sat 10/7: The Exorcist: Believer (2023) - Blumhouse takes its swing at continuing the 'The Exorcist' franchise, and does a fairly good job of it. Not an enduring classic -- I'm not sure one is entirely possible anymore, given how thoroughly mined exorcism tropes have become, but it gives it one new twist -- a multidenominational exorcism -- and has some good performances. (Theater)

Sun 10/8: The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula (1977) - a.k.a. the first two episodes of season two of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries. A two-part episode bringing together the Hardys and a Drew together to investigate who has the most feathery hair (that would be Sean Cassidy, who sings one of his songs in this one), and how unconvincingly they can make a case that Dracula has come back from the dead and is biting people around his old castle, which is now hosting a Halloween party, a singing Paul Williams, and a completely-innocent-you'll-never-suspect-him Lorne Greene. Retro-spooky Halloween fun. (YouTube - Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td-mQMJKNmI Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8G792Cl_Ms)