Is that a prequel/sequel to The Hole (2001) ?

They're not related.

Cheers.:)

Since I went to Inverness today .... I rewatched The Fog. Still would like to see the original film as intended. Ho hum. The first Carpenter film I remember seeing.

Horror Express (1972, Eugenio Martin)

What else to say apart from this German BD looks lovely ... still a tiny amount of damage .... tiny ... but tis the best I've seen it.

October 24th

The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)

Second time around and this was just as intelligent, scary and gripping as the first. The way the horror subtly envelops your conscience is quite special and the denouement devastating.

A modern classic...set in the 1600's.

Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

My favourite Hammer vampire film. Gone are the subtle sexual subtexts, this is a revenge horror film where the sins of the father might be far greater than the sins of the vampire.

October 25th

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

Not a patch on the fourth installment. How could it be when it loses one of that films star performers - Ellie Cornell - in the first half an hour leaving us with Donald Pleasence's Loomis who might be more deranged than Myers. More of a run of the mill slasher with a loony finale than the haunting menace originally created by John Carpenter.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Speaking of loony! I don't think i can recall a horror film with a more ludicrous plot than this Michael Myers free installment. Killer Halloween masks that contain bits of Stonehenge casually transported to early 80's California. Well quite! Oh yeah lets not forget the androids and that bloody tv commercial. Still it's all good gory fun.

I'm hoping to watch this one again before the month is out too.

I really wasn't impressed with this film when I watched it

BUT...

There is something about it which is stopping me from taking it to the charity shops!

October 26th

City of the Living Dead (1980)

A minor masterpiece from Lucio Fulci. Nightmarish, bloody and supremely atmospheric not to mention utter nonsense. Fulci's clunkiness shows through as this is set during the couple of days leading up to All Saints Day (Nov 1st) and there's not a Halloween decoration to be seen.

Satan's Little Helper (2004)

Jeff Liebermann's film is becoming a Halloween tradition for me. What begins as a darkly comic study of video game violence on young minds morphs in it's second half into a nasty, cruel prime example of exploitation.

Brilliant stuff.

I carved my pumpkin this teatime. An old dark house.

I might go and get another tomorrow from Asda, only a squid, and do a more trad face.

I also took a quick snap of a single light from a string of lights in the summer house which i think works quite well.

Don't know if it's any good to you, but Morrisons are doing 1 pumpkin for 75p or 2 for £1

I could get two. They certainly weren't that price this morning. I'm sure it said £1.50.

They are £2 at Sainsbury's. :skull:

It's dependent on size. 16 - 22cm are 75p/2 for £1 while 24 - 28cm are £1.50 each

They are hidden away! In our local shop, they are in the entrance foyer (where the baskets are kept and the passport photo machine is) rather than inside the actual shop

There were four huge crates of them at Asda.

Zombie Flesheaters (REALLY? :skull:)

This being a triptych of sorts for me. A '79 film. A Fulci film. And it's one of the prime examples of Exploitation.

Depressed beyond tablets after Survivors, Ian McCullough takes the 1st job he can ... it involves sunshine, sea and a chance to travel afrer all ...

Renowned Italian director takes job directing a horror film, the only genre he hasn't worked in yet.

Using pictorial art as an allegory (gory :skull:) some like Bacon or Grosz. Others prefer portraiture and other representational forms. So it is with this film. The man who made this also made A Lizard In A Womans Skin and Beatrice Cenci. So .... armed with that knowledge, just watch this escalating trip into terror anew.

Or

The film that rode on the coattails of a far more 'worthy' one. Amping up the gore and shocks in a sort of oneupmanship fingy. See logic disintegrate! Tits! :skull: That beatific RIPPING of flesh:hailwitch:

Take yr pick.
I knows what I thinks .....


PS Susan? It's called a thrall isn't? Being held in a spell etc ....

Now watching the High Rising doc "Mark Of The Times" on the Arrow MOTDevil BD. Super wee overview of the 'New Wave' of UK horror. This being the nth time I have watched this. Warren comes across as personable, Armstrong still has a chip on his shoulder and well, if you haven't seen this .... even if you hate the film, it's worth getting for this ... if indeed this is an area of interest ahem.

Then I'm going to see what Armstrong has to say about the production whilst soaking up all that puritanical shenanigans (and Kier never looked prettier imho cough)

:ghostclap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNNvFgBAsQ8

For me the best werewolf film ever made, a classic. 9.5/10

The Burning
A group of teenagers play a prank on a summer camp caretaker which leaves him burned, badly. The caretaker leaves hospital and goes to the nearest summer camp and proceeds to kill of the teens with a set of shears.
A film I haven't watched for years. I do enjoy this film, the gore effects look great and the kills are satisfying, however I do feel it does slow for most of the film.
7/10

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October 27th

Tales of Halloween (2015)

Ten stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.

It's impossible not to compare Tales of Halloween to Trick r Treat (2007). However whilst that film works a treat (ahem) the same cannot be said for Tales of Halloween.

After a terrific opening half hour with the short stories hitting you thick and fast it suddenly became a bit of a chore to sit through. Visually it's excellent with so many references to horror down the years you just don't have chance to take it all in as one year after my first viewing, ten stories in a mere 90 minutes is too much and it feels unfocused after around the forty minute mark.

Where Trick r' Treat really shone through for me is the loving way all the stories interconnect with each other and you notice scenes from one story taking place whilst watching another. There's nothing like this here Some of the ideas used did seem to come from other films such as Jeff Lieberman's Satan's Little Helper (2004), but it was lovely to hear and briefly see Adrienne Barbeau reprise her role of a late night witching hour DJ throughout the film.

Some of the stories amuse, some repulse, a couple i felt didn't work at all. Mostly though Tales of Halloween is merely average and i think i'll be giving it a miss next year.

Blair Witch (2016)

Now if only Adam Wingard's Blair Witch were merely average it would be seen as something of a triumph. As it is this is a poor retread of the original 1999 film where three students disappear in the Burkittsville woods, only this time there are six of them which means more hysterical shouting - i was at near screaming point myself the number of times one girl cried 'Ashley' every two seconds once things became creepy.

Wingard basically failed to take in what made the first film a success - things that go bump in the night - bigger is not always better, Adam - and despite a lot more time frantically running round the supposed witch house, (which now appears the size of a blooming mansion) the film basically annoyed the shit out of me, especially as it ends exactly the same as The Blair Witch Project did.

Attachment 198204
[13] The Perfume Of The Lady In Black
Written by director Francesco Barilli alongside Massimo D’Avak, who both penned Aldo Lado’s ‘Who Saw Her Die?’, there’s a familiar emphasis on the psychological. The film feels more kin to Polanski than the typical giallo, steeped in a subtle paranoia that increasingly becomes overwhelming. It’s an incredibly slow burn, we take in meticulously composed interiors, awash with blue hues, architecture, fashion, the class and sophistication of the opening a juxtaposition to a chilling cavernous denouement. Mimsy Farmer is immensely watchable, her nuanced performance holds us rapt. The symbolism at first understated, the use of mirrors, ‘the looking glass’, to give us an alternate view, provide depth, elongate, eventually seems overwrought, the recurring book and quotes by Lewis Carroll. The past and the present hauntingly coalesce, child becomes matriarch, a delirious unravelling. The Perfume Of The Lady In Black is one of the more interesting examples of the genre, playful with traditional conventions, innovating, in a similar way to Lado’s Short Night Of Glass Dolls.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198205
[14] Don't Torture A Duckling
Morality is the pervading thematic in Lucio Fulci’s Don’t Torture A Duckling. Set in a small rural town, rife with superstition, an intense distrust of outsiders, feeling almost ruled by religion. A series of child killings, the local Witch caught fleeing from the church, of course no one suspects the Priest, not in those days, and especially not in Southern Italy. We see foretelling glimpses of the Fucli to come, the corruption of a minor, a spectacularly brutal retribution as the local residents take the law into their own hands. It’s a richly layered ecosystem, possibly one of Fulci’s classiest genre efforts, alongside Lizard In A Woman’s Skin. It’s almost the antithesis of The Beyond, where Fulci creates a world that feels moribund, a decaying husk lapsing into the underworld, Don’t Torture A Duckling feels full of life, selfish, mercenary, and imperfect.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198206
[15] Amuck!
It’s easy to pigeonhole Amuck as the plot begins to unfurl, the protagonist, played by Barbara Bouchet, takes a secretarial job for a writer at his mansion in an attempt to go undercover to unearth the truth behind the disappearance of her lover, who formerly held the same position. There’s not a strand of originality to the plot, and it deals with themes you’d come to expect; the manipulation and exploitation of those from less fortunate means, but it does so in an unexpectedly elegant, if kinky, way. Not quite as sensational as its alternate title of ‘Hot Bed Of Sex’, there’s an undeniable psychosexuality. Like so many gialli of the period the cinematography is sublime, from the canals of Venice, to the remote mansion, almost feeling locked away from the outside world, the gates resembling a prison cell’s door, framed with creeping vines.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198207
[16] The Last House On The Beach
Inspired by Wes Craven’s The Last House On The Left, The Last House On The Beach is part of a wave of Italian films that would exploit it, which includes the likes of Night Train Murders and The House On The Edge Of The Park. Florinda Bolkan reprises her calling as a Nun (in quite a dramatic departure from Flavia The Heretic) in charge of a group of teens rehearsing for a play. The house becomes besieged by a group of criminals on the run; the Sister and her students become victims to abuse at their hands. It’s a fairly standard set up, but in execution never manages to be as sleazy or depraved as its inspiration or contemporaries. It still manages to shock; one character’s violation at the hands of a make-up smeared antagonist in particular is haunting. Bolkan is mesmerising, and there’s an air of ambiguity to Ray Lovelock’s character, which makes for an engrossing experience. The finale is a spectacle of overacting.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

So behind as usual. :jaws:

Humanoids from the Deep
Sea monsters terrorize a small town, by killing their dogs and rape the woman. Its now up to a group of people to figure out a way to stop them.
Its ok, the monster effects and gore is great. Its a B movie so acting is not important. Probably would watch it again, but I won't buy it.
6/10

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I was considering both of these today, but I don't think that I'll bother with either of them! Thanks :D

October 28th

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

Should have been titled The Mess of Michael Myers because that's what it is and is as far removed from Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers as can be, never mind John Carpenter's original. That final shot of Donald Pleasence sticks in the memory as he states he has some business to attend to even if the film doesn't.

Still, it's an easy if daft watch in the run up to October 31st.

I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

Director Jacques Tourneur and producer Val Lewton's masterpiece. A poetic mix of Jane Eyre and Caribbean voodoo, beautifully photographed - the use of light and shadow has never been bettered with innovative camera work that belies the films low budget.

I Walked with a Zombie is truly a special film.

Blackburn (2015)

A group of friends become trapped in a deserted Alaskan ghost town formerly home to an asylum whose inhabitants may not have left.

Blackburn is one of those films that should have been better than it is. The ingredients are right - good location, reasonable budget, bloody gore, Wrong Turn style mutants - it just lacks any suspense whatsoever, which i have to say is unforgivable when it comes to horror films of this ilk.

Rise Of The Scarecrows (2006)

Amateur hour goes on and on ... and on and on. Small towns can be hell so they say. This one sure is. City slickers get their arses kicked is not the most original storyline. Not to worry, as there are distractions. Mainly 'actors' :skull: who can't help staring into the camera .... the most inept 'slaughter' scene since Snuff....
But I can't stop watching it :skull:
The sheriff knows something .... but he's not saying much.
When a group a friends get stranded in rural Murica, abusing the locals isn't the smartest mother truckin' move y'all. To add to this there's 'something' in the woods. :ghostclap: It's like horror Top Trumps .... without the horror. Filmed mainly in daylight, this is witless in extremis.
I may revise this. :skull:

Two directors!!! :skull: and the ST features a band called .... Bitchslicer. Ring any bells does that?? Harumph :skull:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOZwnivtLbc


Just started watching this which is perfect Halloween viewing with its fantastic creepy atmosphere one of Carpenters best.

Children of the Corn
All the adults in a small town are murdered by the children. X amount of time later, a couple find themselves in the same town and discover these children follow a demonic entity hiding in the cornfields.
First time I have ever watched this and to be honest I liked it. The whole killer kids idea is fun, Linda Hamilton is in it as well which also makes it winning.
7/10

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I must eject this from my Halloween Horror schedule.

It really needs to be watched on the 21st of April. :brainfood:

Here's my final list, I'll be watching RotLD3 tonight and Halloween 3 tomorrow night :) I fell a little short of 31 films but such is life I guess!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Death Line (1972)
Dracula’s Daughter (1936)
The Black Cat (1934)
Ghoulies (1984)
The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
House (1977)
Son of Dracula (1943)
The Munsters Season One (1964)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Francesca (2015)
The Shallows (2016)
Wrestlemaniac (2006)
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
June (2015)
The Babysitter (2017)
Trick ’r Treat (2007)
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
Child’s Play 2 (1990)
The Headless Ghost (1959)
Stranger Things 2 (2017)
The Transfiguration (2016)
Return of the Living Dead part 3 (1993)
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982)

Piranha
A couple go to a military testing facility and are eaten. Their friend goes to find them and unwittingly lets piranhas escape. Now she and a drunk have to stop them killing everyone.
Meh, its alright. The acting is fine, considering its another corman film. Boobs and blood are all that kept me going.
6/10

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Attachment 198250
[17] So Sweet, So Dead
So Sweet, So Dead (aka The Slasher Is The Sex Maniac) has a killer targeting prominent women who are all having affairs, leaving photographic proof of their adultery at the murder scene. The killer seemingly an amalgamation of a wide range of giallo tropes, wearing black leather gloves, a stocking mask, fedora hat, a trench coat with the collar up, and randomly a scarf. There’s a self-awareness to the script, one character suggests that he couldn’t possibly be the killer because there’s no inheritance to made from killing his wife. There are sporadic moments of striking visuals, a murder by a pool with two swans in the background is beautifully lit and composed, and one scene where a character wipes steam from the bathroom mirror, revealing the killer behind her is particularly effective, but for the most part the cinematography is very bland in comparison to gialli of the period, but it is kept claustrophobically tight. There’s an interesting moral dilemma for the inspector investigating these crimes at the end, when he finds the murderer is targeting his wife, indicative of her infidelity, which gives the film a surprisingly odious turn.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198251
[18] 2 Masks For Alexa
I’ve been making a conscious effort to expose myself to more of the wave of Spanish gialli, films produced in Spain taking inspiration from the Italian giallo, or being marketed as such. I found it difficult to know where to start; many of these titles are hard to source. I’ve been eagerly awaiting Troy Howarth’s third volume of So Deadly, So Perverse, which is focused specifically on Spanish gialli, hoping to use it to navigate my way through an area of film that is relatively unknown to me. I did, however, spot a couple of Spanish gialli getting blu-ray releases this year, one of which was Two Masks For Alexa, from X-Rated Kult in Germany. It’s a very unique film, when the central premise becomes evident it almost feels a little Saw-like. Largely made up of flashbacks, of what led Alexa and Pietro into the situation they’re in, it feels a meditative experience, reflective, as the characters muse on their mistakes, and what potentially could have been. Rosalba Neri is often cast in such a role, possessing an almost supernatural beauty, but here she feels at her most human, imbuing Alexa with flawed mortality. The pacing can feel a little laborious at times, but I found myself utterly transfixed, and not in the least expecting such a restrained and distinct experience.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198252
[19] Absurd
Inspired doesn’t quite do justice to the relationship Joe D’Amato’s Absurd has with John Carpenter’s Halloween, it feels created to ape it, at every opportunity. It has its very own Dr. Loomis, here a Priest, played by Edmund Purdom, who seems to think he’s auditioning for Dracula. Musical cues feel directly lifted, it’s almost as if you can hear the actual score for Halloween lurking underneath the surface. In typical Italian exploitation fashion it pushes the boundaries, going for excess, providing our substitute for Michael Myers, played by George Eastman, with power tools. He’s even referred to as 'the Boogeyman'. They attempt to explain the inexplicable, regenerating cells, a nonsense that takes away from the mystery and the awe. Absurd does work in its own right however, there are some spectacular scenes that work exactly because of the lack of restrain; one character’s return from having their head baked in an oven, their hair singed off, and that final shot, both shocking and hilarious, the character’s arc awesome in its ridiculousness.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198253
[20] The Mutilator
When one character remarks on a missing Battle Axe from a wall mount, you know what you’re in for, and in this regard, Buddy Cooper’s The Mutilator doesn’t disappoint. At one point in danger of being lost in its current form, like Blood Rage, it has been lovingly restored and resurrected from obscurity (and woeful DVD bootlegs) by Arrow Video. They’ve done almost too good a job; you can see a prosthetic neck on one victim as their throat is slit. It’s reassuringly formulaic, in the way that most of the more enjoyable slashers from the ‘80s are. There’s just the right amount of gratuitous gore, the kills having variety in their implements, the aforementioned Battle Axe, a hook, the engine from a motorboat. The script is unintentionally funny, filled with clunky dialogue, woeful attempts at humour, it sort of becomes endearing. The film features an amazing, blackly comic closing kill, because there always has to be one final scare, no matter how outside the realms of possibility it is.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198254
[21] Mountaintop Motel Massacre
Mountaintop Motel Massacre has a dark heart, a mean-spirited slasher calling to mind the likes of The Redeemer and Alice, Sweet Alice. There’s an immoral blackness, the opening slaying of a child’s pet, followed by another pet being fitted for a noose to serve as sacrifice for some bizarre satanic ritual. The film effectively uses animals frequently to unnerve the viewer. The local Priest is toting a bottle of alcohol rather than a bible, and one character’s challenging of religion serves to add to an air of hopelessness, even the protagonists are distasteful examples of a wretched humanity. Evelyn’s traversal of the catacomb-like tunnels under the motel, cobweb strewn, roots hanging, is a striking visual, one sickle death, spectacular in its practical effects pay-off shot. It’s occasionally stupid, and the acting is often dire, but Mountaintop Motel Massacre emotes to the viewer, giving an experience beyond the practicalities of its parts. An absolute gem of slasher cinema that is criminally underrated.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 198255
[22] Twisted Nightmare
As a slasher enthusiast it is always a joy to discover a slasher that you’ve never seen before, especially one with a backwoods camp setting. Twisted Nightmare nails its visual aesthetic, from the fashion and hairstyles to the night-time scenes, an arresting mix of blue-hued darkness and an abundance of billowing fog. There’s an unmanageable cast of detestable characters, often you find yourself wondering which one that was getting killed, or trying to remind yourself of how they related to the group. The kills are only sporadically striking, a supernaturally electrified fence sequence is of particular note, but mostly it’s pretty run of the mill, they do however have a frequency that aids the pacing tremendously. The look of the killer is a little inconsistent, occasionally striking awe, but mostly looking hokey. It attempts to end with an explosive finale, but it all feels a little flat and contrived.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Not completely up to date porting them over here, but I do have just 6 more films to watch and review. Very excited for tonight and tomorrow. Loads of trash food and drink to keep me awake. I've been working through Stranger Things 2 over the past couple of days too, four more episodes to go, hopefully two tonight and two tomorrow, and it'll be finished on Halloween night.

October 29th

Flesh Eater (1988)

It's virtually impossible to be too unkind towards a film in which Bill Hinzman reprises his role of 'graveyard zombie' in this low budget, often clumsily acted, T&A gore fest.

Basically that's the film. It's set on Halloween, Hinzman rises from the grave and kills and zombifies all he comes across. It's impossible to get behind any of the cast because they are just there to be slaughtered in all manner of ways as Hinzman goes from farm to farm, meaning eventually there are zombies everywhere and we appear to be back in Romero's Night of the Living Dead territory with locals taking pot shots at anything that moves.

When you know a film's heart's in the right place you can still find it enjoyable as i do with Flesh Eater.

Recommended to special audiences.

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

A New York police constable is sent to the village of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the murder and decapitation of three of its citizens. Once there he learns of the mythical ghostly Headless Horseman whom the locals are sure is the killer.

Tim Burton perfects his love of all things Gothic in Sleepy Hollow, from the misty and foreboding woods to the numerous jack o' lanterns lighting the way. His greatest creation being the Horseman itself. A dark scary figure riding a pure black stallion, sound systems positively thunder whenever the horse charges into a scene.

Johnny Depp leads an outstanding, mainly British cast in this Halloween classic.

This film was forever ruined when Vipco renamed it 'Zombie Nosh'!

I had the VHS :lol:

I didn't even know it was the same film. :skull:

My second pumpkin is more of a classic design.

Amityville double tonight.

I think I'll be watching this one tonight.

Think I will watch it tomorrow .