October Horror Challenge 2017

O yeah, Mario Bava made a ding dong strange science fiction film , Planet of the Vampires, notice something interesting about this, 1965 , ..., ?

Hey, Davey, were there any attractive women in that first movie? 
But seriously, that one looks interesting. I bet it's full of stuff that would make me pass out like a big wuss, though.

Is this what you're getting at, Boojam?

Without Warning (1980)

Greydon's Clark low-budget film predates Predator with the story of a silent alien that hunts people in a remote location. I enjoyed the film overall, and was impressed to read after watching that it only cost $150k to make, half of that budget going to stars Jack Palance and Martin Landau. The crew really did make the most of their small budget and delivered a really fun sci-fi horror flick. Landau plays a grizzled ex-vet who claims to have seen creatures flying around at night attacking people. The locals dismiss him as crazy, but when a group of out-of-town campers claim that two of their friends were murdered, Landau is convinced.

Not only does this film seem to have inspired Predator, Kevin Peter Hall plays the creature in both films. This film is no Predator, but it really does a lot with what little it has. This movie has a solid cast of recognizable actors(including a very young David Caruso wearing frighteningly short shorts), creepy music, photography by Dean Cundey, and an effective creature designed by Rick Baker. There are some slow spots near the middle, but there's a good amount of suspense during the final act as the alien creature silently hunts its remaining victims. This was a first-time viewing on the Scream Factory BD and it looked great. My only disappointment is that Scream Factory tends to put spoilers or brazen images of the monster/creature on the packaging, which kind of ruins blind buys.




Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

This is a silly film about aliens that look like Clowns terrorizing a small town, by turning people into cotton candy. The premise is ludicrous, but the actual film is wildly entertaining. This is the type of film that you wouldn't go out of your way to rent, but if you saw it on TV you'd make some popcorn and sit down and watch, amused by the sheer absurdity of what's unfolding onscreen. In the wrong hands, this film could have been a total disaster, and it probably should have been, but there's so much creativity in the gags and set pieces, that it's hard not to be won over.

The clowns themselves look great, and pretty much makeup for the near total lack of compelling characters. I agree that John Vernon brings some class and gravity to the production, and does a great job playing a no-nonsense local cop that the audience can't wait to see victimized by the alien clowns. I can't remember which network aired this regularly when I was young, but it was great revisiting this on BD looking pretty darn good. My favorite gags include a clown using a corpse like a ventriloquist dummy, skin-melting cream pies, and an endless amount of aliens piling out of a clown car. Good subset pick, especially with all of the bizarre clown sightings going on around the country. Impending invasion, perhaps?

I refuse to acknowledge this new IT witchy!

I'm not sure if I saw the original hills have eyes, I believe it was the remake.

And I think the movie I saw was 2009 version of the last house on the left. I wasn't aware it was a remake. Obviously a horrific thing but I thought a suspenseful movie.
DaveyJoe yes the 80s version of course. I did see the newer prequel one and it was decent I thought. But I love Mary Elizabeth winstead.
The second wolf creek is worth a go but not as good as the first, and it gets more fucked up.
Another good one is silence of the lambs. Also that reminds me, have you ever seen 'The little girl who lives down the lane'? Its from 1976 and features a young Jodie foster. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it. I'm not sure if it is strictly horror. I was pretty horrified by the end of it though

"Mario Bava's films are really good from what I've seen, he was very influential on the more popular Dario Argento, and has striking color palettes that Italian horror films are known for. I've got Blood and Black Lace set aside for viewing sometime this month."

Bava was Argento's mentor , Dario's first big hit was  The Bird with the Crystal Plumage , which for unfathomable reasons was a bigger hit than Blood and Black Lace. Bava was famous for his style but he wove in Hitchcock-ian twists , Agrento copied the style but had weaker narrative plots. Bava had some clunkers too but then all directors have that.
Well Blood and Black Lace is of it's time in the 1960's and 1970's ... erotic horror was explored as pure fantasy a perspective one absolutely cannot do in film these days, and even the free regions of TV are very circumspect in exploring that element today.

Scanners (1981)

David Cronenberg's pulsing horror film about a group powerful and unstable telepaths being sought out for corporate espionage still packs a punch. This is a movie that I enjoy more every time I see it. I initially thought it was pretty flawed, with uneven pacing and a really weak performance from the lead actor. The more I think about it, it makes sense that the reclusive Cameron Vale would be stiff and awkward in social interactions. Michael Ironside as the power-hungry Scanner Revok is a much more interesting character, and the final showdown is horrifying and dramatic, with special effects by Dick Smith that still hold up today. The ending really makes this movie, although there are unforgettable set pieces sprinkled throughout the film.

Patrick McGoohan plays the pensive doctor who acts as a father figure to Vale and has a secret of his own. Howard shore gives us a throbbing synth score that serves the film well. Like Exorcist III, this film is probably famous for one gruesome scare, but the film has so much more to offer. The film deals with a lot of interesting ideas revolving around telepathy, and portrays it more as a curse, causing the Scanners to isolate themselves due to the overwhelming voices constantly flooding their heads. There's a scene featuring a group of Scanners connecting to each other's nervous systems that has sensual undertones, and I love the concept of a psychic gymnasium as Vale mentally spars with a wise, old yoga master. I'm still not sure I buy the concept of a Scanner connecting to a computer's nervous system, but hey, it leads to a really cool explosion.




House of Dark Shadows (1970)

When I was very young, I used to watch Dark Shadows on syndication after school. However, I remember nothing about the show except that it featured a vampire named Barnabus. Luckily, this film is an adaption of his storyline from the daytime drama, but unfortunately, it does a poor job connecting the dots with other characters for viewers unfamiliar with the show. The first ten minutes feature one girl searching for a character named David, stopping to chat with people along the way. Who are these people? Who is David? How do any of these characters relate to each other? A young boy suddenly appears lurking around corners, and we eventually realize that this is supposed to be David, and it's not until about 20 minutes later that I realized a character we all ready met, who seemed unconcerned about David's whereabouts, is supposed to be his father. The entire film played out like this for me, I was struggling to catch subtle hints as to how these characters related to each other, so I wasn't as invested in the story as I would have been if I was a fan of the series. I started to catch up after the first act, but there were still some characters that seemed to be there just because they were prominent in the show.

Having said all of that, the production was very good for a film adaptation of a soap opera. Barnabus is a pretty compelling character, often charming but quite menacing when his vampire persona takes over. The core of the story is him trying to become human so he can marry a young girl that looks just like his long lost love. The film really hits its stride when Barnabus starts claiming victims, and the scenes of Vampires emerging from their coffins and stalking prey are quite effective. I thought there was a surprising amount of jump scares for an early 70s gothic drama. One scene features Barnabus rapidly aging to a horrifying monster which I found pretty unsettling, they had some great makeup for that. The editing was quite bizarre, with scenes ending abruptly and jumping to other characters in mid-conversation. This happened several times throughout the film, and was quite jarring. Overall, it was okay, but I think its better appreciated by fans of the TV show.

i never found clowns to be particularly scary idk why. like i get that they literally make some people's skin crawl but they never bothered me

Yeah, I don't think these are "coordinated attacks." Just something creepy that started and is now spreading like a virus of idiocy. If it turned out somebody related to It was responsible for this, Stephen King would probably torture them personally.