October 01, 2020

31 days of horror. A month of Halloween fun.


Man, I love October. Nice pleasant days and lovely cool nights. The trees are turning all manner of pleasant colours and Halloween is coming. And Halloween means scary movies and scary movies means my favourite twitter hashtag - #31daysofhorror. My 31 picks are below. If i get to see half of them I'll be happy. 

Freaks

Let's start the month with one of the most infamous horrors even made. Being banned in Ireland for 60+ years only adds to its cache

Bad Taste

A bit of early Peter Jackson fun. Will the puke drinking bit make me as ill as it did when i was 16? Lets see.

Le Lac Des Morts Vivants

Haven't seen this Jean Rollin directed tale of zombie nazis rising from their watery graves to wreak vengeance but it can't be bad.....can it? CAN IT?

The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires

The 1st Hammer horror on the list. Vamps. Kung Fu. Cheesiness by the barrel full. Plus a surprisingly decent atmosphere.

13 Ghosts

A bit of William Castle fun about a haunted house filled with 12 ghosts. Yes twelve. 3D glasses will be required but the entertainment factor > headache factor

13 Ghosts (remake)

I saw this once when it came out. Someone got sick near me in the cinema when a dude got bisected by a pane of glass. I've always remembered it and now's time for a revisit.

Dementia 13

Picked this one because it has 13 in the title tbh. A Francis Ford Coppola film i've never seen. Plus some of it was filmed in Howth castle.

The Witch Who Came In From The Sea

The first horrible watch. The story of a woman disturbed by her past who finds solace and peace in her cut throat razor. Definitely won't watch this one late at night.

Killer Nun

Some might see the 9th day of October as too early in the month for Nunsploitation films but fuck all that noise.

Santo vs. Las Mujeres Vampiro

A masked Mexican wrestler takes on evil vampire women. Another first time watch but the Santo films are always a guaranteed bit of fun

Black Sabbath

Mario Bava's 1963 anthology horror is the best film so far on the list. And yes, it did inspire the name of that famous English band Take That.

Hellraiser

What needs to be said about this one.

The Slayer

2 couples get trapped on an island with a demon who's handy with a pitchfork. Campy crunchy fun that works surprisingly well.

Rabid

Time for a slice of David Cronenberg madness. The simple tale of a woman and her very dangerous armpit.

Amazonia : The Story Of Catherine Miles

You don't see many films described as a cannibal romantic horror film do you. A late entry to the italian cannibal film boom and ones that eschews the more unpleasant excesses of the genre.

Seven Blood Stained Orchids

A first time watch for this early 70's giallo. Haven't a clue about this one but hey, it's a giallo film and they always have something to offer.

Just Before Dawn

The first slasher film of the month and a rare slasher that genuinely works. It's a tense watch that chooses proper scares over gore and the bad guy(s) are fucking terrifying

Vampire Circus

Time for another Hammer Horror. One of their last good ones, this has all the style and atmosphere of earlier films mixed with the crunch of the later ones.

Female Vampire

A Jess Franco blood and nudity fest. CH4 showed this one night years ago. I'd say they regretted it the second the camera zoomed into the leading lady's privates during the opening scene.

The Hills Have Eyes

The 2006 remake. Sorry Wes, this one is just better than yours. A ferociously violent cautionary tale about never taking shortcuts.

Blood On Satan's Claw

Ok this list needs some folk horror and the next 2 will add that. A really unnnerving tale of witchcraft and evil in a 17th century English village. This one gets under your skin big time.

Witchfinder General

One of the creepiest films ever made and seeing as most of it's scenes are shot in stark sunlight that's saying something. The opening scene just sticks in your head forever.

Black Christmas

The 1974 original. No blood or guts. Just a genuinely unsettling atmosphere courtesy of some horrible phonecalls. From the director of Porky's!

Mute Witness

A woman stumbles across a snuff film production and runs for her life. The opening 20 minutes of this are terrifying. Then it gets silly. But that opening.....

Nights Of Terror

The shoddiest zombie film you'll ever see but once you do see it, you will never ever forget it. I'm actually laughing as I type this.

Seeding Of A Ghost

A Chinese ghost story. I've no idea other than that. These tend to be either petrifying or absolutely disgusting. Let's find out.

Ghost Stories

One of the best horrors of the past few years. A portmanteau of British horror that really got under my skin.

Possession

The weirdest film on the list so far. Sam Neill. Isabelle Adjani. A story of psychosis, octopuses, doppelgangers and electric knives. Very arty. VERY memorable.

Near Dark

Katherine Bigalow. Vampires. The desert. Bill Paxton. Jeanette Goldstein. Lance Henriksen. What's not to love?

Phantasm

The story of a tall man and his dangerous little ball. You heard that right. Get your mind out of the gutter. God I'm appalled at the puerility of you people.

Nightmares In A Damaged Brain

Let's end on another video nasty shall we. A film that got it's UK distributor 18 months in jail because he wouldn't cut it. A tale about a violent boy becoming a violent man. Great craic altogether.

So? What's on your list?

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