2024 Halloween Challenge

What a great idea.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the start and doing my own Halloween movie month.

Will be happy to take part in this next year if Siddon does this again.

Put me on the 2025 list.

Huh. This surprises me. I didn't love this movie but I thought, removed from OG Trilogy expectations it was fine and had some good moments and I definitely liked it more than the 2013 reboot.

My wife liked it a lot more than I did, but she likes pretty much anything with possession as a theme, much to my chagrin. I did like the scene with the turntables and I guess the sound design in general, and the actress playing Elle certainly dove into the part. Hence me shitting on it in my review but still marking it 2 stars.

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October 5th - Calibre (2018)
In the Neighborhood (Scotland)




I was going back and forth as to what path I should take for my neighboring countries and I decided to look at the UK for my three films. Calbre is a film that I had heard good things about and I had only seen a handful of Scottish horror films. I was generally pleased with what I saw as this is more of a tense atmospheric horror yarn which always feels incredibly grounded.

Calibre is the story of a pair of friends who go off deer hunting in the woods...something bad happens and then a series of unfortunate events continue throughout the story. It's kind of one of those Yuppie in trouble type films but ultra realistic. I think what makes it good is that it feels so grounded in reality...the choices the characters make are bad but not based on stupidity. The moral issues of the film lended me to think of the Decalouge and less The Hills have Eyes.

You do lose a bit of the horror because it is so realistic still I enjoyed it for what it was. A number of streaming Netflix films feel like same old same but this one was different...recommend it.



Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)
Day 3 - Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Day 4 - Whatever happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Day 5 - Calibre (2018)

October 6th - I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the house (2016)
Double Feature Oz Perkins




One of the things I'm adult enough to admit is that sometimes I was just to young to see certain films. We're not talking from a subject matter point of view but rather from a tone and style. When I first saw The Haunting I hated it...I didn't get it...over the years I've revisited it and my taste has changed so that I now enjoy it. Well to me this is Oz Perkin's verson of the Haunting. A metaphysical meditation on death, disease, and ghosts. It's a film that might put me to sleep and I say that as a good thing.

This is the story of a nurse who takes care of a dying writer...the plot bounces back and fourth between the two leads. You always know the film/story is going to end badly but the creepiness and icy narration just unsettles you. Watching this on a dark cold night in an empty house gives it's own rewards. It's a well done film from Oz Perkins...not for everyone but this was perfect for me.



Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)
Day 3 - Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Day 4 - Whatever happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Day 5 - Calibre (2018)
Day 6 - I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House (2016)

Yeah, I think I was at like 2.75. I thought that central performance was an all-in thing that won me over. Like, if I had to watch this or Smile (another popular recent Horror) for a second time I would definitely choose this, to set a some kind of meter on things.

Smile was pretty lame. Not surprised it got a sequel.
And Evil Dead Rise was ok enough.

Where were you when I needed you?

In the corner huddled lamenting having watched Smile.

Heh. I didn't think it was that bad... though my notes actually say otherwise I guess... but it's my next write-up, tomorrow, so I guess we'll see as I put my final opinion (for now) on it.

Smile was good for two acts...then it fell apart at the end. I might actually see the sequel because sometimes films like that can turn it around (see:Annabelle)

October 7th - The Exorcism (2024)
Day 23 - Watch a film that is lower than 40%



The Exorcism is part of the new wave of horror films from people who really like Jordan Peele films but are also really bad at making movies. It takes a special level of bad to make something this bloated with obvious pretentious notions jamed into a post modern attempt at a horror film. See they are making a movie that's like The Exorcist but the lead actor get's possessed. But the lead actor is also a troubled alcoholic with a lesbian daughter who enters into a biracial relationship while the demon torments the lead with stories of his childhood trauma...and they also slip some abortion stuff.

This movie is stupid written by someone who wanted to make something as woke and unsubtle as possible. On the plus side the technical aspects of the film are solid...the movie isn't dark and the effects are well done. It just hates that it's a horror film so it just rushes through the horror to get into more lecturing. If it wasn't so dull it could be great satire...but it's not.



Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)
Day 3 - Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Day 4 - Whatever happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Day 5 - Calibre (2018)
Day 6 - I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House (2016)
Day 7 - The Exorcism (2024)

Now this is an interesting take when I think about my own. I thought the first two acts were just an absolute grind to get through and then the third act I at least understood why it could be popular with audiences who didn't care about things like a script or any attempt at originality. At least the third act had a little pop.

So you feel like the good part of Smile was the giant blurry CGI monster in the shadows at the end?

I haven't seen Smile yet. Not sure why I have avoided it up until this point.

Siegel, Long, Downey, Pal, Long, Martinez, Cheel, 2024





I considered ranking this a at first, and I kind of still want to give it that mark, but a hokey monster in the first segment and a weak frame narrative keep me from pushing it up to that level. Otherwise, this is easily one of the best films in the series, with a couple of absolute banger segments that quickly jumped up to some of my favorites in the entire catalog. The skydiving segment, Live and Let Dive, was pulse pounding and had my wife chewing on her hands by the end. Stowaway was spooky and atmospheric, and then went full on surreal as it progressed along - I absolutely adored this one.

The rest were not bad at all, but as I mentioned, the first one had sort of a silly monster reveal, but was otherwise strong. Fur Babies was twisted af; I enjoyed it's razor wit and kooky take on body horror. Dream Girl was good, but not great, and was sort of a derivative blend of the far superior Safe Haven from V/H/S/2 and poorly conceived and executed TEKNOGD from V/H/S/85.

Speaking of V/H/S/85... that film has one of the strongest and perhaps my favorite frame narratives of the entire series, and it would have been a way better fit for V/H/S/ Beyond, which is heavily focused on sci-fi horror and aliens in particular. I would love to see an edit of V/H/S/ Beyond with that frame narrative inserted in place of the clearly weaker Abduction/Adduction.

Anyway - this kicked ass! I had a lot of fun with this one.

It was the best part anyway. It's hard to say whether I thought it was a good part, it may have just been a relief from the rest of the film.

Inception 31


Harlin, 1988





Oh, Tuesday Knight...why did I watch you on a Thursday? Quite possibly one of the best so-bad-it's-good performances to ever grace the silver screen. Not quite on par with Lar, she of the Friday the 13th Part VII magnificence, but she definitely gets close. This girl would have gotten kicked out of drama club during sophomore year, but somehow managed to score the gig to replace Patty Arquette after she was a big "NOPE" to return for the continuation of the story started in Dream Warriors. Her every line delivery is laugh out loud funny, making this a fun watch every time.

The film is decent, but hasn't aged as well as some of the others. The scene with Alice in the cinema is pretty creative and it's executed fairly well, and the Debbie turns into a cockroach after a workout scene is memorable. Freddy is fine, but is maybe getting a bit long in the tooth at this point. No Dokken here either, so a point gets deducted for the change to Sinead instead of butt rock.

Probably the last of the series worth watching, although I haven't seen The Dream Child in ages, and really don't recall much about it.

October 8th - 1984 (1984)
Horror Sub-Genre - Elevated



I was going back and fourth and what to do for sub-genre so I decided to pick the sub-genre of elevated horror. The goal of elevated horror is to work with art to elevate the genre into a style of horror that you wouldn't typically see. 1984 I believe is an elevated horror film that came out before the genre really became defined in the 00's. An adaptation of the novel 1984 tells the story of a man stuck in a dystopian world in a constant state of war. The film is an assault on your senses mixing shocking nudity with dull visuals and violence right on the outside of the frame.

It's a mix of hopelessness with soul crushing visuals and sound. But the story doesn't give you much in the way of gratification like a normal horror film would...the last act is pretty much confusing non stop torture so we the audience don't really know whats going on even after the ending. You can't really trust the narrator at any point because you don't really know what you are seeing at times. I don't know if that's the adaptation or the choice of the filmmaker but it was a solid watch.



Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)
Day 3 - Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Day 4 - Whatever happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Day 5 - Calibre (2018)
Day 6 - I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House (2016)
Day 7 - The Exorcism (2024)
Day 8 - 1984 (1984)

October 9th Demon Seed (1977)
Horror Sub-Genre - Elevated





Well this is a film that should get a remake...with a better title. You know how everyone is scared of AI...well imagine a film in 1977 that tells the story of a computer that decides to kidnap and rape a woman so that she can bring out a hybrid creature. How would that look...would the movie work...why did I watch this I don't know. But I will say this it great practical effects and the highminded nature of the story really worked to elevate the genre of the 70's rape film.

I imagine the book was really good and could use a new adaptation, I've never been a big Dean Koontz fan but the concept is solid and worth checking out if you want to see something different..it's on the TCM rotation now.


Day 1 - The Substance(2024)
Day 2 - Azrael (2024)
Day 3 - Sweeny Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Day 4 - Whatever happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Day 5 - Calibre (2018)
Day 6 - I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House (2016)
Day 7 - The Exorcism (2024)
Day 8 - 1984 (1984)
Day 9 - Demon Seed (1977)