31 days of horror

October. I love it. The days are nice and sunny(usually) but the nights are cool and you can sleep the sleep of the just and comfortable. It's also the start of the scary season and there's no better time to lash into a few horror movies. Twitter's #31daysofhorror is a great place to see what others are watching and also a deadly spot to find out about stuff you've never heard of before. My 31 are below. As always it's a hotchpotch of mainstream and rarities, slashers and ghost stories, zombies and psychopaths.

The Devils

Religious mania. Forced enemas. A crazed Oliver Reed. A nun pleasuring herself with a charred femur. Ken Russell's 17th century drama isn't exactly a horror in the true sense of the word but it will still terrify you.

Ilsa : The Tigress Of Siberia

Ilsa, the infamous concentration camp boss has moved to Russia to take over a gulag and she's still up to her old tricks. But this time with more tigers, orgies and chainsaws. A new one for me.

The Cat O'Nine Tails

A bit of Dario Argento giallo with Karl Malden as a blind dude investigating a murder. Tame by Argento standards but there's atmosphere here to burn.

L'Interieur

A woman is pregnant. A visitor to the house wants her baby. She will use any means to get it. French extreme cinema at it's most intense.

Candyman

A student researches urban myths in a violent city. The scariest American horror film ever made. Even it's opening shot of a Chicago freeway in the daylight will creep you out. Masterful.

The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires

Abraham Van Helsing turns up in China and takes on Kung Fu vampires. When you cross Hammer Horror with the chop socky craze of the early 70s it is as much fun as it sounds.

Beyond The Darkness

Frank has just lost his wife. He wants to bring her back. Things get weird. Joe D'Amato's 1979 horror is scummy, sleazy, nauseating and a true one of a kind.

Rawhead Rex

You have to have an Irish film on any list and this story of a demon raised from the earth in County Wicklow is mighty craic. Glenroe with entrails. Perfect.

The Lonely Spirit In An Old Building

The ghost of a girl haunts a building. The premise of this Chinese chiller is simple but the film is anything but. Creepy, sad, mesmerising.

Taste The Blood Of Dracula

The Count rises once again, this time due to the shenanigans of 3 sleazy scumbags. He's pissed off. Very much a lesser Hammer entry but still a fun one.

Violent Shit

Haven't seen this German gorefest but the bad guy is called The Butcher Shitter. I mean it has to be at least entertaining.......right?

Grapes Of Death

Elisabeth goes to a vineyard and discovers that the pesticides used are having an odd effect on drinkers. Horror Jean Rollin style = gore + nudity + funky 70's tunes. Deadly.

Friday The 13th part 6

The best of the bunch. Hilariously silly and totally tongue in cheek. You cannot beat the sight of Jason decapitating 3 paintballers in one go after he's brought back from the dead by a bolt of lightning..

Lifeforce

Vampires from space led by a very naked blood drinker attack London. All hell breaks loose. This one is fucking bonkers and just as much fun as it sounds.

Les Diaboliques

A wife and a mistress decide to rid their lives of the man who's made them miserable. A dread filled watch that has influenced so so many of your faves. A film best seen cold.

The Devil Rides Out

Christopher Lee takes on a pack of devil worshippers. One of the finest English horrors ever made. Totally serious and totally terrifying even 50+ years later.

Anthropophagus

One of the most infamous video nasties of the bunch stars George Eastman as a cannibal munching on tourists on a remote greek island. Truly awful and repugnant but so watchable.

Turkey Shoot

Ozploitation par excellence time. Inmates of a remote prison are sick of the inhumane treatment they face every day and decide to revolt. Blood is spilled. Big time. More of an action flick with horror elements here but so much fun.

Zombie Lake

The 2nd Jean Rollin film of the list is about a French lake haunted by nazi zombies killed there during World War 2. Yeah.....this one is guaranteed to be in good taste.

Night Of The Seagulls

A doctor and his sexy wife take on the Knight's Templar of Spain. But there's a twist. These Knights are of the undead variety. Whoooo. Hilariously cheesy 70's fun.

Schramm

A killer is dying and Schramm is a look at what flashes before his eyes. Another new one for me and from what I've read i'll be amazed if I make it to the end credits. But sure you have to try.

Rabid

After experimental surgery a woman starts developing a weird obsession. A gloriously warped slice of body horror from David Cronenberg. An intense and scary watch

The Quatermass Xperiment

In the aftermath of a botched space machine particular things start happening in London. A Hammer horror classic. Creepy as hell and very well acted.

JD's Revenge

Yes, that is the Mayor from The Wire. A 70's student is possessed by the ghost of a 40's mobster in a spooky voodoo version of New Orleans. A surprisingly serious horror despite it's storyline.

The Blood Splattered Bride

Susan's honeymoon takes a dark turn when she meets Carmilla. A gothic, erotic, exotic, dark, bloody & quite unique take on an tale as old as cinema. Spanish horror is always interesting.

Black Sabbath

A Mario Bava directed trilogy of terror. Vampires, maniacs, all manner of supernatural shenanigans ensue. As lurid and atmospheric as you expect from a master of scares.

Alison's Birthday

Alison is almost 19 but things are getting weird. Very weird. A horror that eschews the usual graphic trappings of the genre and relies on suspense and genuine scares instead. It works very well as a result.

Ganja & Hess

Hess a doctor working in Africa is stabbed by a strange knife and starts getting weird cravings. Ganja is the woman who may be able to save him. A blaxploitation horror that is played totally straight. An effective and unnerving watch.

We Are What We Are

The Parkers are a reclusive family. They have good reason to be so. A dark, nasty and unsettling watch but it's slow pace might be too much for some. Stick with it though.

Kill List

Ben Wheatley's domestic drama/hitman thriller starts off like Leon and ends up as the Wicker Man crossed with your worst drug fuelled nightmares. This will stick in your head for weeks.

Frankenstein

Gotta go with a classic on All Hallow's Eve. A doctor dabbles with the unknown and creates life. 88 years later it's still a little slice of horror perfection.

What will be on your list?