Howdy, horror hounds... and you curious non-hounds!
Even though I kind of did a premature horror movie marathon in September, I got a second wind and have been pushing through a fair number of unsavory seasonal films lately. Most have been good, or fairly good, few really good, and only the very odd let-down. So a pretty reasonable rate of return on my hours spent in front of the tube. I caught most of these on Netflix, Shudder, Youtube, and Roku channels.
I began October with the classic The Masque of the Red Death, the 1960's Vincent Price gem that drips with period piece horror. Then I popped over to some demented 80's Lovecraftian chills with The Beyond. Strap yourself in for that one... it's a mind-melter. On to a supremely silly stoner-horror-comedy called Stan Helsing. Maybe I should have skipped that one, but it had its tiny moments. It's a sendup of the old and not-so-old monster movies. You could do better, though. Like Young Frankenstein.
Candyman: Day of the Dead was the second sequel of that mini-franchise, and I expected far less than I got. It's a fairly satisfying urban horror with a rich backstory that unfolds further and further with each film. And a unique and cool "villain".
In a lighter vein, there's Vampires vs The Bronx, a fun family-friendly flick on Netflix. Modern urban youth take on the creatures invading their neighbourhood. A sort of 80's-Stephen King vibe there. The Undead, from 1957, is a Roger Corman film that was better than I expected... in a hypnotic trance, a woman is sent back to the time of her witch counterpart/ancestor's execution. Low budget but kinda cool.
Ghostland surprised me with its modern home invasion story with a Texas Chainsaw vibe. Then on a slow night, I thought I'd revisit an old favourite... not horror exactly, but with a supernatural theme... The Ninth Gate, a super good eerie mystery starring Johnny Depp as a chain-smoking book detective. I highly recommend it.
The Wretched is about teenagers working at the harbour of a coastal town during summer break. Things get a bit weird and scary-ish, and while it's not amazing stuff, it's a fun watch. You could do worse. The Assent, on the other hand (on Netflix), was a real let-down. It seemed to promise some Linda Blair exorcism headtwisting and hose vomit, but never delivered. The movie kicked off well enough but sort of lost steam and fizzled out for me. Not very satisfying.
I'll certainly do more genre movies before the month is over, not to mention the obligatory Halloween eve horror classic (or two). This is it for now. If you want to see my September film choices, pop over to my Letterboxd movie viewing diary.
If you have any suggestions for more great flicks for October chills, leave them in the Comments section below. Thanks for reading, and be sure to turn out the lights for your next spooky movie night.
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