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Fifty Book Challenge 2012
| 7 / 50 (14%) | ||
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Hellraiser Cover Artwork - by Nick Percival
( Submitted by Svalts )
For fans of Phantasm - it’s the Tall Man Funeral Home.
I found this linked on the official site of the film series, Phantasm.com. I don’t know who originally posted it, but I’ll update this post if I find out.
October Horror Films 2010 | Bonus: Day 32 | ThanksKilling (dir. Jordan Downey; In Broad Daylight Films 2009)
Brief review: ThanksKilling is about a killer turkey. He speaks and carries a shotgun. He’s killing due to a curse, but that’s really incidental. It’s a killer turkey. That’s all you need to know. The film is funny in parts and it’s crass. It’s awesome in its ridiculousness. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates low budget films (the IMDB lists the production cost as $3,500). It would likely also appeal to fans of horror-comedies.
Bonus: The film itself is the bonus. I can’t think of a better way to transition from Halloween (and our October Horror Films project) and get in the mood for the next holiday than a Thanksgiving-themed horror movie.
October Horror Films 2010 Wrap-up: This ends the 2010 October Horror Films project. Thirty-four horror films (counting this one and The Exorcist on 9/30) plus one short film in thirty-three days. This has been fun. I’m guessing we’ll do it again next year.
October Horror Films 2010 | Day 30 #2 | Night of the Demons (dir. Adam Gierasch; Cold Fusion Media Group/Parallel Media/Seven Arts Pictures/Voodoo Production Services 2009)
Brief review: Since we had some time and we’d seen a few thrillers this month (all of which were good, even though they weren’t exactly horror), we decided to watch a second film yesterday. Night of the Demons is a remake of a 1988 film (which I’ve always liked). The overall plot is basically the same, but the details are different. I think this is a pretty good remake. The film is funny in parts, there’s a lot of gore, and the demon makeup is cool. The soundtrack is also pretty decent. [Aside: The film features Edward Furlong, who is apparently married to (and estranged from) Rachael Bella, who was in two of our selections this month (The Ring and Drive Thru).] I’d recommend this to fans of demons and special effects makeup.
October Horror Films 2010 | Day 28 | Underworld: Evolution (dir. Len Wiseman; Screen Gems/Lakeshore Entertainment 2006)
Brief review: Underworld: Evolution, the sequel to 2003’s Underworld, is probably more a sci-fi/action film than a horror film, but Netflix says it’s horror so that works for me. I’d seen it before and liked it, but I didn’t remember most of it so it was cool to see it again. The film includes some pretty gory sequences, as well as some pretty scary/cool werewolves and vampires (I think that Marcus is probably the coolest looking vampire ever seen in a movie). I recommend this to fans of vampires, werewolves, and crazy action sequences.
October Horror Films 2010 | Day 27 | Drive Thru (dirs. Brendan Cowles and Shane Kuhn; Armada Pictures/Lions Gate Films/Prospect Pictures 2007)
Brief review: I really enjoyed Drive Thru. It’s the story of a group of teenagers who are trying to stay alive when “Horny the Clown,” the mascot of a fast food chain called “Hella Burger,” goes on a rampage. There’s a good blend of fairly gory horror and humor. For example, in one of the funnier scenes in the film, Morgan Spurlock, director of fast food documentary Super Size Me, plays the manager of a Hella Burger store. The clown mask is cool, too, as it has a drive thru speaker for a mouth (as seen in the poster). I recommend Drive Thru to fans of 1980s-style horror and anyone without a fear of clowns.
Bonuses: This film contains homages to several horror films. These include: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Happy Birthday to Me, The Shining, and The Burning. There’s also a character named “Chuck Taylor.”
October Horror Films 2010 | Day 25 | 4 mosche di velluto grigio (Four Flies on Grey Velvet) (dir. Dario Argento; Marianne Productions/Seda Spettacoli/Universal Productions France 1971)
Brief review: Four Flies on Grey Velvet is another film by Dario Argento. This is probably the best Argento film we’ve seen in a while, though like The Card Player, it is more a thriller than a horror film. The story is engaging despite the fact that the protagonist is not very likable. I didn’t expect the reveal, so that’s always good. There is not a lot of gore, which makes me wonder why Argento has the reputation he does for making gore-filled movies. To be fair, there’s quite a bit of gore in films like Deep Red and his version of The Phantom of the Opera. Regardless, I recommend Four Flies on Grey Velvet for Argento fans, fans of Italian horror/thrillers, and people who think masks like this are creepy.
Saturday’s film:
October Horror Films 2010 | Day 23 | The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick; Warner Bros. Pictures/Hawk Films/Peregrine/The Producers Circle Company 1980)
Brief review: The Shining is one of the first horror movies I ever watched. I remember my Mom taking us to the video store after school one day and renting it. I think it was around the same time that she rented The Exorcist. If I remember right, we watched each of those as soon as we got home from the video store. Regardless of whether or not that’s right, The Shining is one of the few actually scary horror movies I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure what it is, but something about it creeps me out. It might be the sense of isolation, or the little kid’s voice when he’s saying “REDRUM, REDRUM,” or the fact that when Scatman Crothers arrives to seemingly save the day he…doesn’t. Anyway, I recommend this for fans of Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick, Jack Nicholson, and/or horror in general.
Block: This is the first in the “actually kind of scary” block.
As I guessed I might be, I’m behind again. Here’s Friday’s film.
October Horror Films 2010 | Day 22 | Love Object (dir. Robert Parigi; Base 12 Productions/Catapult Films/ContentFilm/Lo Lo Film Inc./Visionbox Pictures 2003)
Brief review: Love Object was recommended to us by Netflix. It was okay, though it doesn’t actually become a horror movie until the last twenty minutes or so. It’s basically the horror version of Lars and the Real Girl. Actually, as this one came out first, I suppose Lars and the Real Girl is the drama version of Love Object.
Bonus: This film features Rip Torn and Udo Kier. It also features my parents’ first VCR. Unlike the character in the movie, though, my parents read the manual and actually set the clock on it.