61 Nights of Halloween, 2023 Edition

[Luigi]

1. Creepshow
2. Night of the Creeps
3. Saw X (New)
4. The Descent
5. Chopping Mall (New)
6. Resident Evil: Death Island (New)
7. The Pope's Exorcist (New)
8. V/H/S/85 (New)
9. Venus (New)
10. Raw
11. Titane
12. Alien
13. Jason X
14. Ghostwatch (New)
15. Cure (New)
16. Dead Alive
17. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
18. Ginger Snaps
19. The Thing
20. Prince of Darkness
21. In the Mouth of Madness
22. Possession (New)
23. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
24. Kill List (New)
25. Paranorman

Kill List

Turns out that Ben Wheatley's best film is his first film. Propely bleak and disturbing, it does a solid job of building up to that wild third act. Always fun to see Michael Smiley.

Paranorman

We need more animated zombie films to introduce kids to the genre.

 

[Ninjablade]

 

[DarthSkywalker]

View attachment 70972

I get why some people might enjoy this but man I found this to be really generic and lazy for the most part. If it wasn't for Exorcist being in title this could have easily been any of the 10 or 20 demonic possession films that have come out over the years and some I consider even superior to this. Now I'm not one of these guys that hates DGG or anything even though I really wasn't a fan of Halloween Ends but his direction isn't the problem here as much as the bland writing and uninspired scares. The acting isn't the problem either but I just found nothing scary or atmospheric about this and by the time it got to the third act I was just wanting it to be over as soon as possible. Oh well at least we still got the original Exorcist and Exorcist 3 as far as good films in this franchise go and maybe one of these days I'll actually find some time to check out the show.

5/10

View attachment 70973

Easily one of the better films I've seen put out by Gravitas Ventures who have had way more misses than hits IMO so that ain't saying much but I can at least appreciate the effort put into this one. Sure it's low budget and the acting isn't all that great but I really like how some of the supernatural/paranormal aspects are handled and the direction in certain scenes is actually pretty solid. It somewhat of a confused mess though especially when you get to the ending and it definitely has some slow spots that really hurt the overall pacing.

5.5/10

View attachment 70974

My second time watching this one and I still think it's a bit of an underrated gem. Definitely one of the more unique/interesting zombie films out there even though a good majority of it is more like a dark, tragic, family drama than a horror film but when the horror stuff is onscreen it's actual pretty brutal at times and very effective. What really elevates this film for me though are the strong across the board performances in particular Elliot Page and Tom Vaughn-Lawlor who is a super talented actor outside of just playing Ebony Maw.

7/10

100% agreed on The Cured being an underrated. Elliot is all time at making you feel his pain. I also feel like it's a film that has a lot to say in the current climate.

 

[Sithborg]

Highlight of @DarthSkywalker 's list next year.

 

[B]

Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007)

6/10

It's alright, I remember seeing this in the cinema when it released & enjoyed it, but anytime I've seen it since I always notice another thing that I didn't like. Malcom McDowell as Dr. Loomis is one from this sitting, just cannot touch Donald Pleasence in the role. McDowell is actually quite annoying I found re-watching this.

The heavier backstory stuff, while in theory is good, it actually makes the character like Michael Myers a little less interesting when you see how messed up his family is, how he's bullied & treated, it's no real shock to see someone like that sort of snap. Having no backstory, with only characters like Dr. Loomis tell second hand what happened gives the character much more anonymity, which is probably why the original's were more interesting IMO.

Tyler Mane was also in hindsight, WAAAYYY too big to be Michael Myers.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Highlight of @DarthSkywalker 's list next year.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Highlight of @DarthSkywalker 's list next year.

Excited for this on so many levels. Newton rocks. Diablo Cody writing another teen horror comedy is great news. And I'm very excited to see what Zelda Williams does in the director's chair!

 

[Ninjablade]

35. Prom Night (2008) dir. Nelson McCormick

Quote of the film: "If he were any dumber, I'd have to water him."

This movie is a movie that exists. It had actors in it. They used a camera. Cheap 2000s horror was something, man.

36. Child's Play (1988) dir. Tom Holland

Quote of the film: "You stupid *****!"

I've seen this one and the Luke Skywalker remake. It's a classic for a reason. Never been my favorite of the classic slashers, but it's still damn good.

37. Child's Play (2019) dir. Lars Klevberg

Quote of the film: "Even the hearing impaired don't want to listen to me. That is fantastic."

Aubrey Plaza, please have mercy on me.

 

[Kane52630]

Aubrey Plaza as a hot mom, 2019 truly had everything.

 

[NDX]

01. Rifftrax: The Night Of The Living Dead (1968)*
02. Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982)*
03. The Boogey Man (1980)*
04. The Devonsville Terror (1983)*
05. The Dentist (1996)*
06. The Dentist 2 (1998)*
07. Brain Dead (1990)*
08. Night Of The Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation (2012)*
09. The Devil's Messenger (1962)*
10. Double Exposure (1982)*
11. The Crazies (1973)*
12. The Crazies (2010)*
13. Friday The 13th (2009)*
14. Countdown (2019)*
15. Trick (2019)*
16. Long Island Cannibal Massacre (1980)*
17. We All Scream For Ice Cream (2007)*
18. Virus X (2010)*
19. The Night Sitter (2018)*
20. Video Violence (1987)*
21. Video Violence 2 (1987)*
22. Dawn Of The Dead R-Rated Cut (2004)*

This is actually the first time I've ever see the rated cut, all the years I've owned and watched this film. I'll be sticking with the Unrated cut, but finally get to say I've seen it.

 

[Sithborg]

22. The Muppets Haunted Mansion

There's other Haunted Mansion stuff? Why? Gotta love the Muppets. Wish they would make more of these specials.

Gotta get back into the swing for the final 5 days.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Night 55

148. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022) dir. Sam Raimi

Bite-Sized Review: They have a music note fight and a reanimated zombie Strange with a cape made of demons!

****

149. Werewolf by Night (2022) dir. Michael Giacchino

Bite-Sized Review: It's crazy how one shot can encapsulate the utter bankruptcy of creativity over at Marvel, but they managed it this very month.

****1/4

150. The Batman (2022) dir. Matt Reeves

Bite-Sized Review: You had me at Halloween Batman.

****1/2

 

[Mani-Man]

Night 26...we return to the Hill that is Silent.

Silent Hill Revelation

Okay nope, THAT one is as bad as i remembered.
Like really bad.
And whats with that embarssingly bad Monster fight at the end? That wasnt cool or anything, that was lame and way too long.
Visuals are at times okay, but thats about it.
A super boring movie.


1.Winnie Pooh: Blood and Honey
2.Terrifier 2
3.Halloween Ends
4.Smile
5.The Last Voyage of the Demeter
6.From Hell
7.Jeepers Creepers Reborn
8.Renfield
9.Pearl
10.Hellraiser 2022
11.Operation Overlord
12.Blood Vessel
13.The Winter Witch
14.The Popes Exorcist
15.Leatherface
16.Titanic 666
17.Jack in the Box 2: Awakening
18.The Boogeyman(2023)
19.The Black Phone
20.Evil Dead Rise
21.Venom(2005)
22. The Collection - The Collector 2
23.Ghosts of Mars
24.The Haunting
25.Silent Hill
26.Silent Hill Revelation

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Kane52630]

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Shout out to Charlotte for being a real one throughout this and also shout out to that deliciously fresh cooked noodle soup.

This was a really well-done Korean found footage horror and I feel like this was inspired by Grave Encounters and that Japanese haunted hospital reporter video that you can only find online. It's always the aspect people care less about with these found footage movies but I like the setup here and the first 30 minutes of them getting the crew together and driving out to the asylum was good enough to make you care for all the characters and you definitely get some Blair Witch Project vibes from it. I would say the weakest part is probably in the middle where they first go in and explore and they do roughly the same kind of thing in all of these movies. And where this movie really shines is the insane last half hour where sh** goes off and they do some new things with the scares. I will say I think Grave Encounters is slightly better than this only because you get really claustrophobic with being trapped in the asylum and the overall dread and here it's definitely not as much of that until you get to the end part. Overall, this was really great and it's wild that I saw this on the 26th.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)
Day 21: Eden Lake (4.5/5)
Day 22: Lake Mungo (4/5)
Day 23: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 24: Megan is Missing (3/5)
Day 25: The Autopsy of Jane Doe (4/5)
Day 26: Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (4/5)​

 

[KaijuDude1992]

Man how can you have so much talent involved and even a decent sized studio budget and still end up making something so lackluster and forgettable as this movie. I didn't hate it and there were even a few aspects of it that I honestly enjoyed but this was so unscary that its not even funny. Granted, I'm not super familiar with games or the lore stuff but from what I've seen from it there was at least somekind of attempt at suspense and atmosphere and there's none of that here which is probably the most disappointing thing about it IMO.

I don't know maybe its just me but I find it kind of crazy that the Five Night At Freddy's ripoffs like Willy's Wonderland and Banana Splits were alot more interesting and engaging to watch than the actual Five Nights movie which is mostly a really tame, bloodless affair designed for children.

The animatronics look really cool but I would have liked to see them do more and Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard give pretty solid performances, but this just felt like a waste of potential. I guess it's just nice seeing Matthew Lillard on the bigscreen again, but he definitely deserves better than this.

6/10

 

[Batgirl0202]

Pearl (2022)

Sweet Christmas. Someone told me to watch Pearl immediately after I posted last year how much I enjoyed X...

I'm sorry it took me a whole year but man was this movie worth the wait...

I swear, if Mia's uninterrupted monologue towards the end didn't deserve an Oscar nom last year, there's no justice in this world...

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Sitting down to watch the inferior Willy's.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

Shout out to Charlotte for being a real one throughout this and also shout out to that deliciously fresh cooked noodle soup.

This was a really well-done Korean found footage horror and I feel like this was inspired by Grave Encounters and that Japanese haunted hospital reporter video that you can only find online. It's always the aspect people care less about with these found footage movies but I like the setup here and the first 30 minutes of them getting the crew together and driving out to the asylum was good enough to make you care for all the characters and you definitely get some Blair Witch Project vibes from it. I would say the weakest part is probably in the middle where they first go in and explore and they do roughly the same kind of thing in all of these movies. And where this movie really shines is the insane last half hour where sh** goes off and they do some new things with the scares. I will say I think Grave Encounters is slightly better than this only because you get really claustrophobic with being trapped in the asylum and the overall dread and here it's definitely not as much of that until you get to the end part. Overall, this was really great and it's wild that I saw this on the 26th.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)
Day 21: Eden Lake (4.5/5)
Day 22: Lake Mungo (4/5)
Day 23: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 24: Megan is Missing (3/5)
Day 25: The Autopsy of Jane Doe (4/5)
Day 26: Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (4/5)​

Seems like you've had a really good week, Kane.

 

[Snow Queen]

Five minutes into Five Nights at Freddy's, I can see why some critics were thrown by the lack of gore in it.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Night 56

151. Drag Me to Hell (2009) dir. Sam Raimi

Bite-Sized Review: Lohman is as precious as Raimi is mean here. The results are Raimi last truly great horror flick... so far.

****1/2

152. Annihilation (2018) dir. Alex Garland

Bite-Sized Review: It's not like us... it's unlike us. I don't know what it wants, or if it wants, but it'll grow until it encompasses everything. Our bodies and our minds will be fragmented into their smallest parts until not one part remains... Annihilation.

*****

153. Gerald's Game (2017) dir. Mike Flanagan

Bite-Sized Review: Probably not the most fun you could have with Carla Gugino handcuffed to a bed, but you could definitely do far worse.

****1/4

154. The Thing (1982) dir. John Carpenter

Bite-Sized Review: Not the doggo! Anything but the doggo!

*****

 

[KaijuDude1992]

This was a pretty decent effort from Joe Lynch who I've been a fan of since Wrong Turn 2 and I'm just glad the guy is still around and able to give us interesting genre offerings like this. Now, its not a complete home run mostly due to the wonky acting in certain scenes and some strange character decisions but when this movie gets going and delivers the gory goods that's when its the most fun. Sadly, that's mostly saved for the third act but thankfully Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton who both still look amazing for their ages are onscreen enough to actually give this some real life and personality. In the end, if your a fan of Lovecraftian B horror flicks from the 80's and 90's I definitely think its worth checking out.

6.5/10

 

[DarthSkywalker]

That's one hell of a title @KaijuDude1992 .

 

[flickchick85]

154. The Thing (1982) dir. John Carpenter

Bite-Sized Review: Not the doggo! Anything but the doggo!

*****

I love watching YT reactions to this movie, because they always inevitably start with people cheering for the dog to escape the “hunters.”

 

[-Arya-]

I love watching YT reactions to this movie, because they always inevitably start with people cheering for the dog to escape the “hunters.”

And all the reactors are collectively slack jawed when the dog’s face opens up. Good stuff.