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October 2024 Horror Movie Marathon!
YOU'VE BEEN INVITED! It's that time of year again! Welcome
back to the 2024 October Horror Movie Marathon!
Here's how it works:
Watch scary/horror movies in October...whatever YOU think is horror (or scary)
is fine!
Talk about them here (or at least list the title).
At the end of the month, tally up how many horror movies you watched.
1-12 movies: Bangor Buddies
13-18 movies: Tet-Mates
19-30 movies: Horrorslingers
31 movies or more: Ultimate Kings of Horror!
Even if you only watch one or two scary movies, this is a great thread for
horror movie enthusiasts to share their finds and talk some horror!
Tagged:
Comments
Though...🤔 in keeping with my previous efforts.
Flakes Spooky(ish) List 2024:
1) (Halloween episode of) Bones
Bones, Booth (and the other Squints) solve (yet another) mystery.
There were mummies, ghouls, CLOWNS, screaming adolescents, snakes, spiders and other scary stuff.
Yep. I'm playing. (Kinda, in my own special way. 😁)
Okay, this is a good one. I am thrilled it was.
Diane Wiest is Minnie Castevet and Roman is played by Sidney Blackmer — fantastic job recreating this couple.
After Apartment 7A, I followed it immediately with Rosemary’s Baby.
2. Rosemary’s Baby — Criterion
Still holds up after over 60 years. Hitchcock knew what he was doing...
1. The Birds (1963) 5/5
I was never a big fan of this one. The actors in it were either so milquetoast or overacting. Such a jumble of talent doomed to try to act off the mediocrity across from them and give it life. Too bad Mr. Goody-Goody saved Leigh. I was rooting for Christine at the drive-in.
The nurses all gathered 'round
And they gazed in wide wonder
At the joy they had found
The head nurse spoke up
Said "leave this one alone"
She could tell right away
That I was bad to the bone”
clear through every choice in music, Christine was talking to us, to Arnie. And the brilliance of that seduction scene with that smoky, porno wail. Wow.
3. Christine
19th century ship transporting Dracula runs into predictable troubles.
This is a beautiful looking (and sounding) film from Dreamworks, of all studios. It’s a shame they didn’t hire a director with any real vision, nor did they hire a writer who cared about making a story with any surprises. This really needed something extra, a gimmick or a different take, but instead the movie never deviates from its straightforward concept.
Performances are competent, and while some reviewers have complained about the CGI visuals of the vampire, I liked his design and thought he looked appropriately nasty. I get tired of suave handsome vampires, and it’s good to see a more animalistic one that really goes for the jugular. For a Dreamworks movie, the film is nicely (and effectively) gory.
Still, if you have 18 days and a full crew can’t find a vampire on a small ship during daylight hours, you probably deserve what happens to you.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
I, too, watched this. Bob said it all. My favorite part of his thoughts?
”A boat without rats, such a thing is against nature.”
I’m wondering if Disney Cruises has this embroidered on pillows?
3. Christine
Okey doke. Those old giallos have no compass when it comes to anything goes. This is a very suggestive film not for everyone. This could not be made today the way they did it here. Of course, Europeans view sexuality very differently than Americans. (I won’t speak for you other’s countries).
I listen to Pure Cinema podcast and Video Archives and I try very hard to challenge myself. I will never be a movie scholar, but the history of most anything is good to know. And very uncomfortable at times. Both podcasts discussed this movie and the style of giallos.
3. Christine
Anthology of four traditional Japanese ghost folklore stories.
I put off watching this one for years because it’s a three hour movie and I’ve heard it’s a slow, quiet movie. Perhaps because of my low expectations, I was very pleasantly surprised that the critics were right—this is an essential classic horror film.
The film is a work of art with amazing sets and scenes that look like ancient Japanese paintings come to life. The sound design is deliberately sparse, with long silences punctuated by wood percussion and jarring strings. The effect is to give an otherworldly, dream-like vibe which is quite conducive to feelings of dread. So many horror films never even try to achieve this level of atmosphere.
This low-key, artful approach doesn’t preclude several scenes of visceral horror. These ghosts don’t mess around: fighting you with swords, ripping off your ears, drowning you, not to mention bearing grudges that last years.
Patient fans of old Japanese films will enjoy, film fans will at least appreciate.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
2. The Haunting (1963) is, i think the first adaption of The Hauntiing Of Hill House. And to be honest, not to be mean to the two leading men Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn (west Side Story and Twin Peaks fame) but this movie is owned by Julie Harris and Claire Bloom who are both excellent. Johnson, a professor in psychics is out to prove his theory that ghosts exist. Unfortunately for him and his group of helpers he gets more than he bargained for. Thanks to the ladies acting skills its very scary without us seeing very much. 4,5/5
Kurbens list
1. The Birds (1963) 5/5
2. The Haunting (1963) 4,5/5
Satanic cult on murder spree takes an interest in a single woman for a special role.
One might be tempted to write this one off as yet another Rosemary’s Baby rip-off, but it’s more along the lines of folklore horror given a giallo sensibility due to being produced by Dario Argento and directed by Cemetery Man director Michele Soavi. Starring Kelly Curtis (older sister of scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis), the movie packs enough weirdness and genuine scares to keep us interested despite occasionally feeling longish with its run time of two hours.
One scene in particular is not for the squeamish, especially if you don’t like birds. Enough said, if you’ve seen it, you know.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 FTV)
FBI agent pursues a serial killer who leaves a series of clues that suggest the occult may be involved.
The movie doesn’t play out in any one unifying style, veering between weirdness, scariness, and Michael Mann-esque thriller. That’s not to say it’s not effective. The sound design in particular is more than capable of inducing chills, and while there are a few jump scares, the ones that are there are mostly earned. There’s an effective use of frame in flashback scenes as the aspect ratio shifts to a round-edged 1970’s Kodak photo print. Overall, the movie is very dark, so having a properly calibrated display is a must.
Nicholas Cage is nearly unrecognizable under prosthetics and pancake makeup, suggesting an aging glam version of Buffalo Bill, or perhaps Marjorie Taylor Greene on a bad hair day. Maika Monroe plays FBI agent Lee Harker with a stoic social awkwardness, seemingly more at home in her own head with her psychic gifts.
If you like the idea of the Silence of the Lambs, Zodiac, and Seven being done with with a bit of giallo flair, then you’ll enjoy Longlegs.
4 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
1. The Birds (1963) 5/5
2. The Haunting (1963) 4,5/5
3. The Host (2006) 4/5 FTV
This
This was a real good monster movie. Not new but havent seen it before. South korean and to be honest it is always nice to see a different take than the usual american. It also has a good monster and good performances from the actors. We also get an explanation for the monster (some years previously an american research lab closed down and dumped their leftover chemicals in the river where it caused a mutation and bingo, monster). Not really new but at least it did not appear out thin air.