31
Oct 2020
#61DaysofHorror 2020 — Part 2
If you missed it, check out #61DaysofHorror — Part 1 before reading this post.
Continuing my pandemic-inspired #61DaysofHorror watching…
During the months of September and October, I sit down with my morning coffee and my dogs to watch a horror film. Some were new, and some old classics. Some were great, others not so much. After watching a film, I posted a few words about it to Twitter.
Here are the last 31 days…
Day 31 — “Mara” [2018]
A sleep demon eats the characters’ guilt as a bed-time snack and then kills them. Interesting premise that fails to create the dread that it should.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1773753
Day 32 — “The Amityville Horror” [1979]
A classic 70s horror that now feels slow and disjointed to me. Steiger is almost comical.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078767
Day 33 — “The Amityville Horror” [2005]
It certainly has more eerie or terrifying moments than the 1979 version. The father comes across as much more of a threat in this take on the classic tale.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384806
Day 34 — “Amityville II: The Possession” [1982]
Terrible screenplay. Horrible acting. Laughable moments that are supposed to be scary. A piss-poor film trying to capitalize on the terrors of the first one.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083550
Day 35 — “Amityville 3-D” [1983]
A haunted house tale filled with all the corniness of 1980s horror films. Better than the previous two films but that’s not saying much.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085159
Day 36 — “The Amityville Murders” [2018]
A “true” retelling of the historic tragedy that launched a franchise. Better than the fictionalized dreck of Amityville II (1982).
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6984258
Day 37 — “The Night Eats the World” [2018]
Fascinating allegory about coping with a break-up, the loneliness that ensues, and the leap of faith needed to put yourself back out there. And zombies, too.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4266076
Day 38 — “In the Tall Grass” [2019]
A mind-bending adaptation of @StephenKing’s and @JoeHills novella with some mind-bending moments. To say more would spoil the twists.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4687108
Day 39 — “Jigsaw” [2017]
A sequel trying to reboot the series in which all the wrong creative choices were made. Watching the movie is more torture than being a victim of John Kramer.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3348730
Day 40 — “I’ll Take Your Dead” [2019]
Crime meets horror in this creepy, haunted house tale. An indie horror gem.
Another excellent film from @BlackFawnFilms.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7962932
Day 41 — “[REC]” [2007]
A found-film approach that has a style motivation that I actually accept—news crew capturing a horrible outbreak as it happens. Dark. Claustrophobic. Disorienting.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038988
Day 42 — “[REC]²” [2009]
Continues the saga from the perspective of a S.W.A.T. team. Add background origin…demonic zombies. Builds on the first. Still works even though I hate found-footage films.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245112
Day 43 — “[REC]³: Génesis” [2012]
Parallel story, not sequel. Abandons the dark claustrophobia. Bails on the found-footage conceit. Becomes…splatter comedy? Mindless fun that will bother [REC] purists.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649444
Day 44 — “[REC] 4: Apocalipsis” [2014]
A return to the original storyline but without the found-footage conceit. Both welcome choices for this viewer.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649443
Day 45 — “The Frighteners” [1996]
Peter Jackson’s paranormal tale is more goofy ghost gags than frightening feature. Still a lot of fun. Effects stand up well 24 years later.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116365
Day 46 — “Scarce” [2008]
Snowboarders get lost in the snowy Pennsylvania mountains and encounter some back-woods cannibals. A brutally violent first feature from Ontario filmmakers. .
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1238302
Day 47 — “Exit Humanity” [2011]
An ambitious zombie period-piece set just after the American Civil War. This sophomore effort shows the filmmakers’ ambition but also gets lost in it.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781812
Day 48 — “Ejecta” [2014]
An interesting low-budget take on alien visitation that jumps around narratively between time, characters and filmmaking styles until all the pieces come together…somewhat.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2176722
Day 49 — “The Hexecutioners” [2015]
Two women performing legal assisted suicides collide tragically with an ancient death cult. Great premise. Wonderful production design. Hampered by a confusing story.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5080804
Day 50 — “Deadsight” [2018]
Blind man and pregnant cop battle zombies in an isolated country environment. Interesting approach to the sub-genre is worth a watch if the walking dead are your thing.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8551868
Day 51 — “Creep Nation” [2019]
More thriller than horror. AirBnB, the dark web and murder come together in a thriller that feels like we’ve seen it done better before.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8511854
Day 52 — “Doom” [2005]
A square peg (video game) is pounded mercilessly into a round hole (motion picture). Big, dark, messy and far from the terror-inducing that one expects from a Doom property.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419706
Day 53 — “28 Days Later” [2002]
An imaginative re-invention of the zombie sub-genre that takes familiar elements from Romero and injects new life into the undead.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043
Day 54 — “28 Weeks Later” [2007]
The small, intimate tale of survival from the first film becomes a bloated spectacle for the second. Less intimate. Less intelligent. Less believable.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463854
Day 55 — “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” [1998]
The return of Laurie Strode was the only welcome factor in this tired, toothless franchise that needs to be put out of its misery.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120694
Day 56 — “Halloween: Resurrection” [2002]
Live-stream of teenagers spending the night in Michael Myer’s childhood home. Killing spree ensues. Stupidity and pointlessness abound. Horrid.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220506
Day 57 — “The Haunting of Margam Castle” [2020]
Terrible writing. Piss-poor acting. Limp direction. This low-budget haunting film fails on all levels.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10648146
Day 58a — “House of 1000 Corpses” [2003]
A pastiche of ’70s horror and exploitation films, ’80s slasher flicks, and ’90s music videos. Chaotic. Brutal. Insane. From the mind of Rob Zombie…naturally.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251736
Day 58b — “The Devil’s Rejects” [2005]
Less visually experimental than its predecessor, this sequel is unapologetically brutal, cruel, and nauseating. Campy satire that takes itself seriously. Subversive.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395584
Day 58c — “Three From Hell” [2019]
Filmmaker Zombie returns to the nasty Firefly clan 10 years into their future. More unapologetically brutal murder and mayhem ensue.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8134742
Day 59 — “The Shed” [2019]
A vampire locked in a shed. Teenage angst in small-town nowhere. Interesting concept ruined by bad writing, poor acting, and poor filmmaking choices. Joss Whedon this is not.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8236366
Day 60 — “Hereditary” [2018]
Creepy beyond belief. A slow-burn that throbs with dread until it knocks you off your feet. The last act is the steep down-slope of the craziest roller coaster ever built.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7784604
Day 61 — “Midsommar” [2019]
Dark happenings in the unending light of Swedish summer. Unsettling slow-burn dealing with suicide, ritualized senicide, and the siren’s call of emotional dependency.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8772262
BONUS — “The Haunting of Bly Manor” [2020]
Visually stunning. Emotionally atmospheric. Both tragic and hopeful. This slow-burn ghost story is really an exploration of love in all of its forms.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10970552
BONUS — “Lovefcraft Country” [2020]
Lovecraftian horror set in Jim Crow times is a smart and engaging commentary on race in American and a fun ride into Eldritch horror and the wonders of magic.
#61DaysOfHorror #horrorfilm #horror #Halloween
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6905686
What horror films are you watching for the 2020 Halloween season? Let me know.