#ohmc 2017

[onegoodscare]

October Horror Movie Challenge 2017

For the third year in a row I’m again attempting the October Horror Movie Challenge!  

The goal is to watch at least 31 horror movies, one for every day in October; last year I watched 43 in 31 days. I won’t be able to beat that this year, I’m pretty certain of that, so I’m marking all my first time viewings with ‘ftv’ and I intend to watch 21 movies I’ve never seen from various eras, sub-genres and countries.

I’ll be tagging everything with #OHMC 2017 if you want to blacklist or follow along with my progress. I may do mini reviews for some of the movies like I did for the last two years but we’ll see!

Let me know if you’re planning to do a list too! Here’s mine:

Sun Oct 1st - Slither (2006) ftv Mon Oct 2nd - Zombie / Zombi 2 / Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) ftv Tue Oct 3rd - Thirst (2009) ftv Wed Oct 4th - A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) ftv Thu Oct 5th - The Wailing (2016) ftv Fri Oct 6th - Shutter (2004) ftv Sat Oct 7th - High Tension (2005) ftv Sun Oct 8th - Them / Ils (2006) ftv Mon Oct 9th - The Craft (1996) ftv Tue Oct 10th - Cherry Falls (2000) ftv Wed Oct 11th - Ginger Snaps (2000) Thu Oct 12th - Jennifer's Body (2009) ftv Fri Oct 13th - Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) Sat Oct 14th -The Love Witch (2016) ftv Sun Oct 15th - Prevenge (2016) ftv Mon Oct 16th - The Babadook (2014) Tue Oct 17th - Hellraiser (1987) ftv Wed Oct 18th - Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) ftv Thu Oct 19th - Creepshow 2 (1987) ftv Fri Oct 20th - The Burning (1981) ftv Sat Oct 21st - House of 1,000 Corpses (2003) Sun Oct 22nd - The Devil's Rejects (2005) ftv Mon Oct 23rd - Texas Chainsaw (2013) ftv Tue Oct 24th - Green Room (2016) ftv Wed Oct 25th - Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) ftv Thu Oct 26th - Evil Dead 2 (1987) Fri Oct 27th - Army of Darkness (1993) Sat Oct 28th - Bride of Chucky (1998) Sun Oct 29th - Freddy vs Jason (2003) Mon Oct 30th - See No Evil 2 (2014) Tue Oct 31st - Tales of Halloween (2015), Trick 'r Treat (2007), Halloween (1978)

[onegoodscare]

OHMC: Day 16

THE BABADOOK (2014) 

Almost seven years after the birth of her son, Samuel, Amelia still hasn't come to terms with the death of her husband. When the monster-obsessed Samuel asks Amelia to read him a book named Mister Babadook, their home life begins falling apart as the titular creature appears to be manifesting within the walls.

You can take The Babadook at face value as a monster movie but that does it a great disservice. This is a film about unprocessed grief and loss with the Babadook itself serving as a dark metaphor for all that and more. Amelia has repressed her grief and has been living with her disruptive son without even mentioning her late husband's name. She shuts down completely if he's brought up and she struggles to control Sam's behaviour, he's a constant reminder of that day. The Babadook infests and corrodes, claiming that the more Amelia denies its existence the stronger it will get. In other words, Amelia needs to acknowledge and go through the grieving process in order to move forward before it consumes her and causes real, lasting harm.

Writer/Director Jennifer Kent crafts a real sense of unease throughout the film and she has created a memorable movie monster which seems to have already entered popular culture. The Babadook is a well made movie with some heavy themes and multiple layers, it goes far more in-depth than I will write about here. Whether you loved it or hated it, you can't get rid of The Babadook.

My October Horror Movie Challenge list is here!

[onegoodscare]

OHMC 2017: Day 1

SLITHER (2006)

This movie was a lot of fun! It's a horror-comedy written and directed by James Gunn, the same James Gunn who wrote the two Scooby-Doo live action movies and who has written and directed both Guardians of the Galaxy films.

A meteor crashes into the woods and spills out an alien organism, a local man is infected by the parasite and begins to consume and convert the town. The man's wife and the local police force are all caught up in the middle as things escalate.

There's a lot of great special effects and some really gruesome prosthetic work going on, it looks especially grisly and slimy. The comedy is great and if you've seen any of James Gunn's other movies there's a few familiar faces among the cast.

HOCUS POCUS (1993)

Now I'm going to have to watch at least four movies every Halloween! That was such a delightful movie. 

My October Horror Movie Challenge List is here!

[onegoodscare]

OHMC: Day 14

I watched Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives last night, which I’ve seen many times and haven’t written a review for. Today I watched another movie I’ve not seen before.

THE LOVE WITCH (2016)

Elaine is a young witch looking for love after a recent divorce, however, nobody can quite match her standards. The love potions Elaine begins crafting in order to draw men into her life have detrimental effects on those who consume them in this throwback to 1960s technicolour horror.

This film is gorgeous to look at. It looks like it's been plucked from the 60s, despite coming out last year and being set in the modern day. It's somewhat jarring and endearing seeing the period-accurate clothing and sets juxtaposed with touch screen phones and modern cars. The costume design and make-up are hugely impressive, as are the cast. Even the acting is reminiscent of old films, with over the top yet restrained action and dramatic ways of speaking.

It moves leisurely along as Elaine drifts from man to man, claiming to be searching for 'the one'. Director, writer, producer, editor, set and costume designer Anna Biller has created a tremendous effort which is more than impressive and she's certainly a force to be reckoned with. There's a darkness beneath the glossy surface of this movie and it deals with some feminist themes in fun and entertaining ways. It's bizarre, funny and almost dreamlike.        

[onegoodscare]

OHMC: Totals

Total: 35 movies in 31 days. First Time Viewings: 25.

I found a lot of new favourites during my October Horror Movie Challenge this year, some absolutely wonderful surprises.

Slither was gross-out hilarious. Hocus Pocus is going to be a new yearly watch. Thirst was a super unique vampire movie. Shutter was genuinely unsettling. High Tension lived up to its reputation. The Craft defied all expectations I had for it. Jennifer's Body was a delight and one I'll be watching again soon. The Love Witch was funny and beautiful to look at. Hellraiser was so different and so good. The Devil's Rejects was absolutely thrilling. Cult of Chucky was excellent. Green Room was unrelentingly intense. The Babysitter was a wonderful ride.

I'm going to struggle finding more first time viewings next year but with how rich horror has become these past few years I'll hopefully have a lot of good movies to choose from, whether I've seen them or not.

[onegoodscare]

OHMC: Day 24

CULT OF CHUCKY (2017)

Nica has been incarcerated within an asylum in the four years following on from Chucky's last spree of killings. Believing herself to be the perpetrator, Nica's perceptions are challenged when her doctor introduces a Good Guy doll to group therapy and grisly murders begin happening again.

Cult of Chucky is the latest in the long-running Child's Play franchise which began 30 years ago next year. Surprisingly, Chucky has yet to have a remake or even throw out any of his continuity. Freddy, Jason and Michael couldn't even accomplish that. Cult of Chucky is a movie which is really made for the fans. There are easter eggs aplenty and references galore to the previous six films, most of which will go over viewers' heads if they haven't seen Curse of Chucky at the very least. Cult is definitely a sequel to Curse, it picks up dangling plot threads and ties them together in an absolutely bonkers package.

This movie is more of a slow burn akin to the Child's Play movies rather than the full-on Chucky movies in the franchise's latter half but don't let that put you off, it's an engaging movie with some great kills, glorious gore and some absolutely hysterical moments. It's a nice blend between the Child's Play-Curse horror and the Bride-Seed humour and I loved it. I'm still of the (probably unpopular) opinion that there has yet to be a bad Chucky movie.

GREEN ROOM (2016)

A down-on-their-luck band are trapped backstage in a club owned by 'alt-right' white supremacist nazi motherfuckers and as time gets increasingly desperate the situation escalates as more blood is spilled.

This movie is unrelentingly tense. It's been a long time since I watched a movie that had me absolutely gripped and on the edge of my seat practically from the get-go. The story is tight, the acting is phenomenal and the practical special effects are fantastic. The stakes are made clear as the alt-right white supremacist nazi motherfuckers lie through their teeth and try to manipulate their way through a bad situation which is just getting worse and the band trapped inside search tirelessly for a way out.

I wish this movie wasn't as relevant as it is, however, broken limbs, box cutters, shotguns and bullets to the head are definitely the way to deal with alt-right white supremacist nazi motherfuckers. Nazi Punks, Fuck off.

[onegoodscare]

OHMC: Day 23

TEXAS CHAINSAW (2013)

Heather has inherited a sprawling mansion from a Texan grandmother she didn't know she had. Discovering that she is adopted, Heather and her friends travel to Texas and explore her new home. The visit gets cut tragically short when they find that the basement of the mansion houses the presumed-dead serial killer known as Leatherface.

This movie is not good. It is like they read a list of iconic moments from the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre and threw them in here. Hitchhiker who's not all he seems? Check. Low angle shot of a girl's behind in red shorts? Check. Leatherface slamming a sliding door? Check. Someone being put on a meat hook? Check. The list goes on and on and on. The homages are just tiresome and the story is absolutely contrived, especially the huge town conspiracy which is completely and utterly unbelievable. The CGI on the industrial meat grinder in the finale is laughably bad, I have no idea how they fucked that up considering the practical effects in the rest of the movie are great.

Texas Chainsaw does Leatherface a great disservice. He not only looks like a damned fool in his red woolly cardigan but he's also completely unlike the character from the original movie; the only thing to suggest that he is the same person is the fact that the movie tells us he is and that he has a limp. Why they tried to turn him into an anti-hero on a revenge mission I have no idea. One positive? Alexandra Daddario looks mighty fine throughout and is the only likable member of the cast.

[onegoodscare]

OHMC: Day 22

THE DEVIL’S REJECTS (2005)

The surviving members of the Firefly family are on the run after their home is raided my armed police. Once the family's sadism and general disregard for human life becomes apparent to Sheriff Wydell their methods begin to bleed into his actions during the bloody manhunt that ensues. 

This is easily, by far, Rob Zombie's best movie. It's certainly far more coherent and entertaining than House of 1,000 Corpses, to the point where it's in an entirely different league than that movie. This sequel surpasses the original, easily. Sid Haig, Bill Moseley and Sheri Moon Zombie reprise their roles as Captain Spaulding, Otis and Baby, respectively, but this movie can definitely be enjoyed independently from House of 1,000 Corpses. 

Bill Moseley once again shines bright as Otis, who's so unpredictable and absolutely entertaining to watch but also completely horrific and despicable. Sid Haig's Spaulding has some colourful expressions and a wicked way with words. Sheri Moon Zombie's Baby is the weakest of the bunch but her unbridled glee at the pain the family are inflicting is both unnerving and fun to watch.

The Devil's Rejects is a fast-paced, profane, violent, funny, brutal road trip with the villains front and centre as the protagonists and it is one hell of a ride.