Yes, it's that time of year again, the month of supernatural goings-on and frightful film fests. Strangely, I found myself in a scary movie mood during September and ended up watching a bunch of horrific flicks. There were the three It's Alive movies from the 70's and 80's, which started out good (in a bad sort of way) and got progressively worse (unwatchable). I had never seen these mutant-killer-baby movies before, and since the DVD set I found had a rock-bottom price tag, I leaped on it. I'll re-watch the original someday, and possibly its first sequel, but the follow-up... never again. Total dreck. But these cult B-movies have their place in horror history; there are fans of this sort of low-grade cinema.
After that little movie marathon, I tackled a more meaty monster franchise, the Hellraiser series. Again, this was a super-low-priced collection of films that I just couldn't pass up, especially since I had never seen most of them. Strangely, and actually very conveniently, this set included only Hellraiser III through VIII. I already owned the first two of the eerie Pinhead gore-fests, so this 6-pack of sequels made it complete. As is usually the case, the quality went down as the series continued, but there were interesting things going on even in later outings. I'm just glad it cost me next to nothing.
I also got into a neat 2009 two-part TV remake of The Day of the Triffids. It wasn't without its flaws but it was entertaining enough. The chilling impending end-of-humanity scenario was played out decently, and though things got off to a good start, the story descended into a bit of an Aliens action flick. Still, I've seen a lot worse. Effective CGI brought to life the alien murderous plants in a very convincing way. The acting was touch and go, and as I said, the script slipped here and there. Worth a look, if you've got the time.
I found a fun diversion in the 1974 British horror called Madhouse. Starring an elderly Vincent Price and Peter Cushing, the story is creepy if not scary, and walks a fine line between Price's 60's horror-comedies and his later, more grim fare.
For many years, come October, I assembled a horror viewing guide for the month. Some years, I'd actually have a particular movie assigned to each day of the month... and I did manage to watch a movie per day for nearly the entire month of October one time around. But that's tough to pull off nowadays. I'm happy if I can get in a few flicks a week.
So I'm not sure what my plan will be this October. I have a collection of hundreds of horror movies, yet I am hankering for something I haven't seen before. Lord knows I've still got lots of ground to cover, even with all of the movies already under my belt. I'd like to avoid buying stuff just to watch this month... gotta keep costs down these days... but perhaps I'll find something worthwhile between Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Youtube. Though the pickings are slim on Netflix and Amazon, I do have loads of oldies (and some not-so-oldies) bookmarked to watch on Youtube.
If I'm so inclined, I might dip into my personal collection to re-view something like The Fall of the House of Usher, the Poe-inspired 60's classic starring Vincent Price. Maybe some other stuff - more sci-fi than horror - like The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring real-life alien David Bowie. A friend dumped a pile of unwanted DVDs on me recently, so I could give those a whirl, too... things like 28 Days Later (seen it before, and liked it) and the Tom Cruise remake of War of the Worlds (not great but decent, and worth a re-watch).
I guess I'll have to get cracking on a viewing list for the month. I'll keep it flexible, since in past years I have often passed on my pre-planned film for an old favourite, which usually means The Wolf Man (with Lon Chaney, Jr.) on Halloween night. Arooooooo....
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