AH, October is over. Now we move onto something really scary- THE ELECTION! Sigh. I prefer my horror in narrative film form, thank you very much. That said, how about I catch y'all up on what I closed the month out with?
October 29th. The Bad Seed. This film was playing as part of Ithaca Fantastik's retrospective. I have never seen this classic, so the Dr. and I made our way to Cinemapolis to take this one in. What a movie! I can't imagine what it must have been like to see this in the theater back in 1956, what an incredibly dark and twisted movie. Some of the performances were so delightfully over the top, I absolutely loved it.
October 30th. Halloween (2018). John Carpenter's classic is one of my all time favorite films, so naturally I have been curious about this remake from David Gordon Green & Danny McBride. The Dr. joined me once again (she just saw Halloween for the first time, so she was also curious). This film delivered for me on so many levels. The nods to the previous films, the continuation from the original. Jamie Lee Curtis kicking ass as the baddest grandma ever.
October 31st. I wanted to watch something I hadn't seen in a long time, or something I had never seen. I knew this as soon as I started doing this back on October 1st. SO, I went back to a movie that scared me so much as a kid. Witchboard. It is filled with so much 80's glory I don't even know where to begin. Tawny Kitaen's hair? The outfits? The music? It is still an effectively scary movie, even if it is a little cheesy. But really, QUIT USING A OUIJA BOARD ALONE!!! Nobody ever heeds that warning.
I did it! I watched 31 horror films in 31 days. I think my favorite was watching Halloween with the Dr. Getting to see a movie with someone when you know where the scares are and they don't is delightful. Getting to see them enjoy a film you love is even better.
Scariest movie I watched? I will say this is a three way tie between We Are Still Here, Hell House 2: Abaddon Hotel, and Terrifed (Aterrados). Honestly, all three of them gave me the creeps, but Terrified stuck with me for days.
Best/Worst according to ratings? I linked everything I watched to Rotten Tomatoes. I love seeing those peer/critics ratings on there, but I often check them after I see a film. That way I don't have those pesky preconceived notions going in. According to RT, the highest rated film I watched in October was Eyes Without a Face, with a rating of 98. Impressive and definitely worthy of that score. Lowest rating? Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. No surprise there, this movie was pretty terrible.
Now that October is over, does this mean I am done with horror? NEVER! But I won't be watching every day. I've been watching horror movies for almost 40 years. I have no intention of ever giving them up.
