October Horror Movie Marathon

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

@Baka

I bought The Witchfinder's Sister earlier in the year, read about fifty pages then gave up. Absolutely nothing happened in those early pages, just a woman reminiscing.

Does it improve?

[BAKA]

I read it on my Kindle and have no idea what 50 pages in would equate, but it's certainly a book that grows more interesting as it goes on. It's not out and out horror by any means, but there is one really great chapter in the middle that makes you wonder at the direction it's heading. It's very much about the human drama, so if that is what put you off, I'm not entirely sure it'll make for a satisfying return.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I finished my marathon with Michael Dougherty's Trick r' Treat on the 30th and the gruesome twosome of Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981) on the night itself as well as It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966).

All three are out and out classics in my eyes and are watched faithfully on those two days each and every year.

[Demoncrat]

Well, I lasted 10 minutes with Mamma Mia .
So I ended my October with ...

Don't Go In The House (Joseph Ellison)

Donny Kohler has some ... issues to put it mildly. Never double date with him! What with the nondescript little nebbish lost in a world of ghosts ... but he perseveres and moves into the top 100 of human garbage.
Unlike Hollywood's uber intelligent tricksters, Grimaldi's snivelling little creep is far closer to the mark where the real thing is concerned. See this grotty movie. This was my auld Shriek Show dvd. Upgrade soon as it looks a tad faded now!



The Old Dark House (James Whale)
Meet The Femms! I know you've travelled some distance, but I hope you're not that hungry . There's a seat by the fire and some lovely gin to warm those cockles ...
When a trio of travellers get stranded "in Wales" ... they throw themselves at the rather brittle mercy of a mysterious family. Joined later by another couple in similar straits, they battle the elements, each other, their hosts and their Cro Magnon 'butler' in order to survive the night ... but their ordeal is not quite over yet ....
A monolith. We still stand in its shadow. This restoration looks amazing.

[BAKA]

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[#28] Inquisition
Written, directed and starring Paul Naschy, playing no less than three roles, Inquisition feels like a work of intense passion. There’s a level of research and grounding in the plot that are at odds with the genre’s contemporaries. It’s clearly a film that wasn’t overly restricted by budgetary concerns; the sets and costumes feel lavish in comparison to most Spanish horror of the period. The Inquisition descends upon a small town with plague festering at its outskirts, Naschy’s Inquisitor Bernard de Fossey wreaking a torturous retribution on Satan’s disciples. The scenes of torture are typically lurid, elaborate whirring devices; one gratuitous nipple-tearing scene is ghastly. The film has a bizarre moral compass, de Fossey’s resolve weakening as he falls in love, ultimately becoming a victim to machinations he once symbolised. Inquisition is uneven, but brisk and bewitching in its excessive nature.



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[#29] The Devil's Rain
Robert Fuest’s The Devil’s Rain is notorious for the participation of founder and self-proclaimed High Priest of The Church Of Satan, Anton LaVey. Despite LaVey’s input there’s an abundance of over the top stereotypes, but the hellfire and brimstone delivery has a kitsch charm. Ernest Borgnine steals the show, even his eyebrows feel inspirited by the devil, lending a solemnity to the histrionics. William Shatner gives a sincere, earnest performance that feels from a different decade, shorn from a black and white ‘50s monster movie. The film lulls in scenes that lack the presence of Borgnine and Shatner, but at its best The Devil’s Rain is face meltingly atmospheric, riotously entertaining in its corny artificial aesthetic.



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[#30] Scalpel
The decaying husk of Southern Gothic as modernity bleeds in is the perfect setting for John Grissmer’s deceitful inheritance thriller Scalpel. Erstwhile high society meets a cunning, hungry generation, eager for affluence. Plastic Surgeon Dr. Phillip Reynolds encounters a naked woman in the road, beaten to a bloody pulp, the face mutilated, featureless. Reynolds reconstructs the woman’s face with that of his missing daughter, to claim his Father-in-law’s inheritance. There’s something about facial reconstruction in film, the bandaged face and eventual reveal is indescribably captivating. There’s a restrain with the doppelganger aspect, never quite abused in the way it traditionally is. The resolution features an illogical artifice, but satisfies in a detestable character meeting a deserved fate.



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[#31] Deadbeat At Dawn
Jim VanBebber’s Deadbeat At Dawn is unmistakably a product of the ‘80s, a grimy countercultural story of gang warfare told in a hyper-stylised way. It’s visceral, the nightmarish world the gangs inhabit almost seems post-apocalyptic. It’s a conventional story, gang leader Goose wants to leave the gang, settle down, live a more traditional lifestyle with his girlfriend, but originality bleeds in with the telling, Goose’s girlfriend is a practicing witch, having foreboding visions of Goose’s future. There’s a gritty nihilism to the proceedings, but a playful sense of humour, one of the gangs have uniform jockstraps, their leader donning a broken Batman mask. Deadbeat At Dawn was ahead of its time, possessing an intensity to the action set pieces that resembles modern graphic novel adaptations.



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[#32] Star Time
Star Time is one of those films that seemingly slipped the net, an incredibly connecting and captivating experience that never caught the attention it deserved. There are essentially just three characters, Henry, disillusioned, angst ridden, despondent, without aim or purpose, his counsellor, love interest and good conscience Wendy, and bad conscience Bones, who arrives at Henry’s nadir, when they’ve cancelled his favourite TV show. Bones instils a slogan heavy rhetoric into Henry, feeding his delusional obsession with fame. Shot almost entirely at night, there’s no natural light; the film feels completely artificial until the cold harsh light of reality sets in just before the credits roll. There are no action set pieces, corpses are stumbled upon, or reported about, the horrors of Star Time are psychological, a wall of televisions hauntingly seeping directives into Henry’s consciousness. It’s a film that feels kin to the early works of Cronenberg, and Lynch, but has completely been overlooked, lost in the multitude of channels.



Star Time was a complete surprise for me. I can only imagine the reason it's so poorly reviewed across various platforms is because people come to it expecting a typical bodycount slasher. Which it most definitely isn't! I haven't had a chance to watch the shorts on Arrow's Deadbeat At Dawn release, but I've seen one previously (My Sweet Satan) and rate it, so I can't wait to check out the others. 6 more left...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Excellent as always, Baka.

[Justin101]

Even though I loaded 10 films onto my iPad to take to Japan and continue my marathon, I only managed to watch one film Nicholas Roeg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches. Fantastic film

I might try and make up for it and watch a few over the next few days I will definately be watching The Fog. I don't think I'll be doing a Noir November.

[BAKA]

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[#33] Nightmare Beach
Umberto Lenzi considered his time directing Nightmare Beach (aka Welcome To Spring Break) as a holiday. He disliked the script, wanted to do something completely different, and it’s understandable. The killer’s standing in the community, and their motives had been done to death, not just in slasher movies, but also in proto-slashers, and gialli. Even the look of the killer, clad in biker gear, was dated, done previously in Andrea Bianchi’s Strip Nude For Your Killer and Ken Hughes’ Night School. But Lenzi’s ambivalence to the material results in a careless, throwaway, trashy experience, which mirrors spring break and the entire slasher framework. Filmed on location in Florida, the setting is a boon, the beach-front and bars creating the appropriate atmosphere. The electrifying kills are a joy, and the pacing is perfect, regardless of the lack of aspirations.



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[#34] Incident In A Ghostland
Pascal Laugier’s Incident In A Ghostland shares parallels with Martyrs, both films feature a duo of female characters central to the narrative, both of which are put through an unrelenting, harrowing experience. There’s a mean spirited narrative that seeks to systematically erase all positives, frequently obscuring the truth for cheap a revelation. At it’s most grim it’s detestable, a test of endurance, but effectively constructed and executed with a breakneck pace. The house is an imposing presence, aptly dubbed ‘Rob Zombie’s house’, the décor bears a striking resemblance to the one used in House Of 1000 Corpses. Incident In A Ghostland feels a more conventional sibling to Martyrs, attempting to conform, but struggling to free itself of the shadow cast. It’s more stylised in its trauma, but it’s a trauma we’ve become desensitised to.



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[#35] Night Of The Demon
Based on an M.R. James short story ‘Casting The Runes’ Jacques Tourneur’s seminal Night Of The Demon is a meeting of faith and philosophy, as sinister occultist Julian Karswell and scientist Dr. John Holden clash. There’s a curious power to the film, as Tourneur deftly melds quaint English sensibilities with a malevolent terror. Gorgeous black and white cinematography, and effective sound design aid in ramping up the dread at an alarming pace. Notoriously divisive in its decision to show the demon, there’s a spectral awe as it emerges from the fog to pursue its victims, though not as ominous as the footprints, emanating smoke, which stalk the protagonist as he flees the woods. It also features possibly the most delightful mother of a cult leader committed to screen.



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[#36] 3 Dead Trick Or Treaters
Torin Langen’s 3 Dead Trick Or Treaters is an anthology told entirely without dialogue, the narrative driven by notes and gestures from characters. It’s a curious choice for an anthology with a writer at the crux of the wraparound segment that knits the disparate pieces, but it’s a writer who has been silenced. 3 Dead Trick Or Treaters isn’t your typical anthology, most evident in ‘Stash’, an unconventional tale of transients and their haul of candy, insidiously laced to maim, with trust at the core. The silent delivery leaves an air of interpretation; in ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ a tender moment between a persecuted witch and their rescuer feels as if hinting of a more modern, sexual, persecution. 3 Dead Trick Or Treaters is initially uninviting, cold and desaturated, but as colour seeps in the film’s irregular nature entices and enthrals.



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[#37] Terrifier
Damien Leone’s maniacal creation Art the clown is finally given his own feature length attraction after a stand-out segment in the anthology All Hallows’ Eve, and prior short also titled Terrifier. Art feels even more sinister here with a sunken, further accentuated, angular physiognomy. Effectively executed, adept at building dread, and utilising some great practical effects work, Terrifier excels at its titular intention. Unfortunately Art appears to know only the one trick, as unrelenting and grim as that trick is, it doesn’t sustain for the expanded running time. Characters feel transported in on conveyor-belt to pad the mean-spirited depravity, with no attempt to contextualise and certainly granted no level of intelligence. At one point a character breaks free from the building they were locked in only to slip back into the adjoining complex. Terrifier is incredibly proficient with its villain but lacks a worthy protagonist that displays the same level of resourcefulness.



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[#38] The Craft
Andrew Fleming’s The Craft was part of a wave of horror movies in the latter half of the nineties that infused a self-aware referential core into the typical teen movie framework, revitalising the fortunes of the genre, alongside the likes of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s Scream. Four corners of a coven beset by personal trauma, Bonnie with her physical scars, Rochelle suffering at the hands of a racist bully, Nancy enduring a lecherous stepfather, and Sarah who has been falsely slut shamed by one of the jocks. The Coven seeks the power of Manon for vengeance upon those who have wronged them, but their retribution comes with a price, a spiritual balance. It’s got some fantastically bitchy dialogue, which is still as quotable as ****, and the obligatory empowering walk through the school hallway. Fairuza Balk is deliciously wicked as Nancy, her paranoia and greed tearing the coven asunder in one spectacular set piece after another. They’re weirdos, I’m a weirdo, we’re all weirdos.



Finally all done. Roll on next year! Already have a few films lined up.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I think i enjoyed Terrifier more than you, Baka. After all the Gothic vamps and ghostly goings on of the bulk of October i just wanted gore and sick shit which was what i got.

Glad you rate The Craft. It's been a fave of mine since i saw it at the cinema. Personally i think it's one of the best horror / fantasy films of the 90's. Great soundtrack as well.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I think i enjoyed Terrifier more than you, Baka. After all the Gothic vamps and ghostly goings on of the bulk of October i just wanted gore and sick shit which was what i got.

I'm not sure why, but I watched it expecting something slightly cheaper and a bit cheesy, probably similar to the Killjoy films, so was surprised by how nasty the titular character was and how brutal the gore effects and attacks were.

I agree with Baka that a stronger and more resourceful protagonist would have improved the film, but I'll probably watch it again next October if not before.