Shocktober Round Up

Even though she doesn't like horror movies, The Doctor does like Halloween.  This is us as tour guides for a haunted house in Vergennes, Vermont. This was probably our favorite Halloween Night.

Every year, much to the Doctor's dismay, I dub October Shocktober and try to watch as many horror movies as I can.  This year I decided to share the movies I watched by posting an image from the it as my fb profile picture.

Night of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968)  Probably the horror movie that has had greatest impact on me over any other.    A source of terror my entire life, its pasty face ghouls regularly visited me regularly.

Trick r Treat  (Michael Dougherty, 2007)  One of several anthology films I watched.  Tons of fun and certainly worth re-watching.

Black Sabbath (Mario Bava, 1963)  Another anthology film.  Mario Bava films three separate spooky tales in his trademark, luridly colored style.  The first tale "A Drop of Water" is the most effective where Bava uses sound to create a truly potent feeling of dread.  Boris Karloff stars in the third tale, "The Vunderlak" and also is used to somewhat campy effect in the wrap arounds that American distributor (AIP-who else?) added.

Possession (Andrzej Zulawski 1981)  Much of the film centers on the devastating effects  of Sam Neil and Isabelle Adjani's overly existential marriage breaking apart and the Oh My God!  Is she having tentacle sex with that monster?

The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (Harald Reinl, 1967)  A staple of my midnight movie watching childhood, stoic faced Lex Barker wanders a German haunted castle searching for Christopher Lee's reanimated Count Regula and rescues the lovely Karin Dor from some buzzards.  And there is a pit that has a pendulum.  There is no Dr. Sadism,

Detention (Joseph Kahn, 2011) I loved this movie so much I watched it again a few days later just to show someone else how cool it is.  To call it a teen slasher/science fiction homage to the films of John Hughes does not do it justice.  Just watch it from Netflix Streaming and be won over.

Basket Case II (Frank Hennenlotter, 1990)  I didn't get to watch much of this movie, but I am such a fan of the original (and the picture of Belial was too cool not use!), I included it in my list. Check out my review of Hennenlotter's Bad Biology  and then check it out yourself.

The Canal (Ivan Kavanagh, 2014) The Canal  was one of several movies I watched via Google Movies, which I am grateful for because it gives viewers the opportunity to see movies early, often before they are in theaters.

Asmodexia (Marc Carreté, 2014) I had been waiting for months to see this Mexican possession film and thanks to the Google, I was able to stream it.  Twistier than usual twist at the end, I will definitely want to watch this movie again.

Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984)  I didn't really like this movie the first time I saw it, in 1985.  But I have done an enthusiastic about-face since then!   Talk about
your girl power, Nancy is an honest to goodness, butt kicking hero girl the likes of witch we don't see enough of in horror movies.

Witching and Bitching (Les Brujas de Zugarramundi) (Álex de la Iglesia, 2013) Another foreign horror that I have been wanting to watch based on the killer trailer, Witching offers plenty of thrills.  I hope there is a sequel.

The House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009)  I am not sure what the significance of having the film take place in the 1980's was other than that titillating that fetish of seeing people wearing clothes that I used to see when I was in high school.  My second viewing confirmed that this is a great movie that slowly builds to a great climax during a lunar eclipse.

Shadow of the Vampire (E. Elias Merhige, 2000)  Director F. W. Munrau (John Malkovich) and actor/vampire Max Schrek (Willem Dafoe) battle wits during the making of Munrau's classic Nosferatu.  

Housebound (Gerard Johnstone, 2014)  A fun horror comedy from New Zealand.    Thanks again, Google Movies!

Visible Secret (Anna Hui, 2001) This was the only movie on a list of horror movies directed by women on Netflix (besides American Mary).

Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)  Who wouldn't love a movie about a group of 20-somethings turning their struggles with burgeoning maturity into life and death struggles against the undead? Shaun serves up a hat trick consisting of pretty good zombie film, real characters who provide heartfelt moments of sincerity and plenty of hysterical hilarity.

Here Comes the Devil ( Adrián García Bogliano, 2012)  This second Mexican film is another sleepy siesta of scares as concerned parents Laura Caro and Francisco Barreiro struggle to cope with their two children who wander off one afternoon and come back very changed.  I was much more impressed the first time I watched it.

The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983)  Certainly one of the best opening montages ever-Bauhaus, Bowie, savage monkey attacks, all of it coming together at eh cryptic "No ice" junction.  Scott bathes this film in  a smokey, neon ambiance that slowly parts to reveal one of the best modern vampire stories as lonely Miriam (Catherine Deneuve), after all her centuries, moves through the  Manhattan searching for her perfect, next lover.

V/H/S: Viral (Various, 2014)  Shocktober's finishing film, I watched this after the trick or treaters were done for the year.  The third anthology film of the month.  It was entertaining, but didn't rise to the levels of it's predecessors.

That is it for today.  Hopefully my readers will take quantity over quality!  Now, back to midterms.