2017 Halloween Scary Movie Challenge

The Criterion by far...and answers all your questions.
Carnival of Souls Blu-ray - Candace Hilligoss

 

#6 - The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) - Hammer



I love Sherlock Holmes and early Hammer, so this was an easy choice. It was nice to see Cushing and Lee play the good guys together, although I did not particularly like the casting of Watson. The movie took the one Doyle story that works best as a "creature feature" and does not disappoint. Hammer's atmosphere works perfectly for this film. I highly recommend it if you like Hammer's better known films from the 50s.

 

Taking a chance on Dracula 2000 tonight. Anyone seen it? It's also streaming on Amazon Prime.

 

The Dark Half
Carrie (1976)
Halloween (1978)
Hell of the Living Dead
Nightmare on Elm Street
Nightmare on Elm Street 2
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

 

Continuing:
Prometheus
Alien
Aliens
Alien Covenant
The Others (Nichole Kidman flick)
Young Frankenstein (OK, it's a comedy but there is kinda some horror)

Up next:
The Old Dark House (well at least when it arrives)


For Halloween it will be a mixture of the good, the bad (because it's funny) and the ugly (gross out)
The Devil's Rain (bad, so bad it's funny--you get to see William Shatner, John Travolta, Ida Lupino have their faces MELT OFF! and Ernest Borgnine appear to be a Texas ranch guy but, really, he's Corbus high priest of THE DEVIL)
The X-Files: Fight The Future (well they don't fight the future so much as don't have aliens bursting out of them in a very cold place--it's a good movie but not great)
The Wicker Man
Life Force (Good, bad but definitely not ugly!)

 

I always iwondered how evil and dangerous a “hound” could be then I ran into some guy walking an Cane Corso out of Italy — 200 ponds of vicious muscle. I knew that thing could tear you apart in a minute!

 

Sure, it's not bad for a vamp flick made around the turn of the century.

 

The Basil Rathbone (as Holmes) Hound has always been my favorite. Not scary at all. Creepy, though- particularly a couple of the supporting cast.

 

You've just put The Devils Rain on my must see list.

 

...and the recent film Raw, which is on Netflix. Thought it was entertaining, too.

 

I have a whole list of horror movies I've watched this month that I want to post on the 31st. The only reason I'm not doing it now is because there's more for me to watch until then.

 

I'll be attending THE SHINING in 35mm at the GFC here in Columbus next weekend sometime. Maybe more than once. Also, trying to fit in PSYCHO in 35mm, also next weekend at GFC.

Last two years I took in a digital presentation of Carpenter's HALLOWEEN. Once at an AMC Theater and last year at GFC.

 

Never been big on It (surprisingly, because I like almost everything else related to Stephen King), but I'm in for Texas Chainsaw for sure.

 

Watched "Terror Train" with the Jamie Lee Curtis. "Prom Night" on deck.

 

Hercules In The Haunted World (1961) Hercules must journey to Hades to find a weapon to fight the illness that has overtaken his fiancée. He overcomes many creepy obstacles but it doesn't do him any good because Christopher Lee still wants to kill his fiancée and drink her blood. Our hero must battle a graveyard full rising corpses before he can get to Chris and give him what for. You might not think a Hercules film is good Halloween viewing but it is in this gem of a film by Mario Bava.

Ghost Of Guts Eater (1973) This is not a gore film. I cant stomach gore films. This is a Penanggalan film which is an unfortunate individual cursed or possessed by a witch. On certain nights the afflicted persons head will detach from their body with guts and organs in tow and go flying through the air looking for dinner.

This time around a granddaughter gets possessed by a ring given to her by her grandmother. When grandma's soul gets hungry her face appears in the glowing ring and granddaughter must fly out the window in search of snacks. She is soon recognized and forced to leave the area. This lands her into a territorial dispute with another Penanggalan and as they fight she bends down and bites the other monsters organs. Subtitles read "she bit me on the ass". The other monster is soon destroyed and the rest of the film grinds to a halt with a boring subplot. The first 65 minutes however are quite entertaining. I suspect lots of the soundtrack music is stolen but the only bits I recognize are musical cues from Dark Shadows.

The Shiver Of The Vampires (1971) On their wedding day a couple decide to visit the wife's uncles who live in a nearby castle. The uncles who are vampire hunters have recently made an error in judgement which results in no longer being able to run errands during the day. The husband doesn't like them and wants to leave but the wife is fascinated. It doesn't help that a vampire priestess soon arrives and seduces the wife. Despite the husbands best efforts to get out of Dodge the wife succumbs and is soon destroyed with her uncles.

Jean Rollin's films are a mixture of dreams, fairytales, beautiful girls in gossamer gowns and long walks on the beach. The priestess makes her entrance stepping out of a large grandfather clock. The castle goldfish bowl has a human skull that the fish swim around. Most of the vampires are dressed like they just stepped out of the Haight- Ashbury. Psychedelic soundtrack by Acanthus. Favorite line from the film is when the priestess gets in a tiff with the uncles she brings up their attitude, castle and servants and says disdainfully "you're just bourgeois vampires".

 

It looks like I've misplaced my dvd of Hammer's the 'Hound of the Baskervilles', so I may have to watch what may be a variation on the same story, "Brotherhood Of The Wolf"-subtitles-(2002). The original 'Woman In Black' (1989) is a must, and also 1970's "Cry Of The Banshee". I like 'Cry...' much more than "Witchfinder General".

 

Thanks.

 

An American Werewolf In London (1981, John Landis)

On Amazon Prime. Good one. In the meantime Landis also did one for MJ.



Like him or not the dude did make one badass music video. Funkiest zombies ever.

 

Rosemary's Baby.
I've watched it three times this past week.

 

Cool movie poster.

 

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)

Too artsy to be scary, this movie is more like a noir thriller. From Iran. Highly recommended.

 

The Thaw - Q: What do global warming, Val Kilmer, a wooly mammoth, a Pleistocene super-parasite, and interracial unprotected sex have in common? A: None of them know how “quarantines” work. And that global warming will kill everyone.

3/5. A handful of good actors, impressive cinematic vistas, and well done visual effects can’t save a movie that really, really insists on ham-fistedly hammering its gospel of killer global warming only to neglect the actual story.

 

it gets a bad rap, but I'd say it's worth watching around this time...

 

that may be a record! : )