October Horror Thread

I’m admittedly not a huge horror fan but going to give some of the criterion channel horror drops a go. Open to recs.

1. Piercing (Nicholas Pesce, 2018)

Starting off with a viewing of Nicolas Pesce's love letter to giallo, S&M, and De Palma split screens. Christopher Abbott plays a wannabe serial killer preparing for his first mark, but he meets his match in Mia Wasikowska's high-class hooker who has plans of her own. Power dynamics ebb and flow. Who's preying on who? Who's getting off? This cat-and-mouse twistedness is the crux of why the film is so much fun to watch and Pesce keeps us dangling as his characters trade tortures. All you know for certain is that these two perverts were made for each other.

NY Giants Offense - shit. Complete and utter shit.

Stolen content. Go straight to Jail. If you pass GO do not collect $200.

Cabin Fever - 6/10

Almost works? Some good stuff in here. Eli Roth is a weird dude.

Body Bags (1993) was a brisk and relatively enjoyable anthology collab from Carpenter/Hooper. You can definitely tell this was their attempt at making their own Tales From the Crypt, and ultimately it might've worked better on TV than as a standalone movie, but it's OK for what it is. "The Gas Station" is straightforward but tense and effective, with plenty of Carpenter's signature tension and sly sense of humor keeping it afloat. "Hair" is majorly silly, but Stacey Keach's aces performance makes it a blast to watch at times, though it's ending is a serious dud. Hooper's segment "Eye" is definitely the worst, unfortunately- a predictable and overlong slasher with an...uneven performance from Mark Hamill, to say the least . The wraparound, which features Carpenter himself as a loopy coroner introducing the segments, is a lot of fun. 6.5/10

Two ABC Movie of the Weeks. How Awful About Allan (1970) 5.5/10. Awfully predictable but automatically tense idea of psychosomatic blindness and there's a typical unnerved Anthony Perkins perf, he's pretty good (and there are notes of Psycho, Fear Strikes Out, Someone Behind the Door, Ten Days Wonder, et al, in his character). Everything comes down to the senses, what can't be seen, touching doors to see if there's heat on the other side, and like at one point a crazy lady says to Perkins, "You're scared - I can smell it on you." Directed by Curtis Harrington. It's in the public domain and could easily be remade by Blumhouse or something.

When Michael Calls (1972) 7/10. Lame ending and one giant red herring aside, it's surprisingly good, detailed, and creepy! and maybe the first ominous-caller horror? None of these TVMs are very popular except The Night Stalker but this one deserves a bit more cred, costarring Ben Gazzara and Michael Douglas. There's a believable divorce-drama smuggled inside this especially with the Gazzara perf that is so naturally played. From the director of Take A Giant Step and Dying Room Only another well made TVM. Also, who knew bee venom smelled like bananas?

Hatchet For The Honeymoon (1970) 7/10 Re-Watch

Here's a little surprise for most people ......I've seen this movie more than any other Bava ......and while some of it is, um, well not good, it has things in it that no other Bava film has and that I gravitate to.

First, it's a modern setting and recognizable - it feels very contemporary to its time and unlike the other modern settings that followed this when he was faltering - he's still somewhat in control of his craft. Second, this film has a simple premise which is good for Bava......and most importantly it has subtext which is often missing in his work and subtext is everything, always.......and his better 60s movies were by comparison straight ahead .....this movie is trippy and psychological and.......odd. You could picture Polanski or Chabrol making this even......

Now, the bad .....lead block of wood actor Stephen Forsyth - sort of a less technically adept David Hasselhoff (um) - doesn't add much at all ......but like I said this movie has subtext and the subtext is the marriage ceremony itself and how marriage can be a death of one life into another life (rites of passage etc.) and how many things about marriage have horrific overtones "be together forever"....there's also a gender blending subtext (killer in a veil, killer with his purse) - the killing of other to find yourself........... changing yourself to please or kill another.

Underrated....though every time I see it I wish it was better than it is.....but still....

Primal Rage (1988) 5/10. It was the devious-cruising Mattsby, who in his retracing search for another Killer Party, only found another Final Exam. Very very 80s, steals from The Fly, Karate Kid, etc, and with bottom-barrel awkward acting, including Bo Svenson in a lab coat and sneakers, it leaves you unsure whether you should be laughing or not. Two interesting elements - this is about a virus going around a campus so that's (1) and with all the overdressed dorms and posters of Spuds MacKenzie, The Noid, etc... they (2) accidentally or not tie product marketing to the college age, ripe for proliferation, and it's telling that the behavior from the bullying asshole characters before and after getting the "rage" virus is almost identical. Also on a first date, two characters discuss how they both love Al Pacino.... (3).

4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, Wes Craven)

I've been having more and and more unpleasant dreams as of late, so this hit hard. Terrifying portrait of having an uncontrollable force invade and ultimately shape one's headspace. Craven creates this nightmare with a mindset to suffocate the viewer in a sleepless atmosphere and succeeds. Deserves the iconic status it has received, I’m glad I finally watched this. - 9/10

5. Fright Night (1985, Spider-Man)

There wasn't anything to keep me entertained during this. There was zero suspense because everything is spelled out within minutes and there wasn't any fun to be had with the dialogue or set pieces or circumstances. Had one good scene, which was the nightclub dance. - 4/10

6. Possessor (2020, Brandon Cronenberg)

Best movie of 2020 so far and the highlight of October Horror Watches for yours truly. - 9.5/10

Don't Torture A Duckling (1972) - 7+/10........Alice Sweet Alice (1976) - 7/10 both re-watches

Effective, red-herring laced and deeply linked films - both well made and overtly anti-Catholic in subject context that also suggests that the horror of the world is outside this world itself.

Alice Sweet Alice has a revelatory incidental scene in a police station with explicit nude pin-ups on an office wall but also an overt pedophile too and the girls themselves are sexualized through even a Communion ritual and its seductive dress (the veil etc) juxtaposed with innocence (dolls, cookies, Mothers protecting Daughters)....Don't Torture A Duckling - Lucio Fulci's most fully realized work (he has a ton of garbage too) more than implies that the community fosters such behavior in many ways as well - the community needs the Church......the Church fosters secrets.....the secrets never end.....

After seeing each of these movies you will feel dirty and a little shaken......watch them in tandem like pacinoyes did.....well I'll be in the shower thankyouverymuch

Strait-Jacket (1964) 7.5/10. My new favorite William Castle. Joan Crawford's Lucy is kinda like a cross between Mabel Longhetti, Blanche DuBois, and Freddy Krueger. Castle gets great creeping mileage outta the mundane... loud jewelry, overflowing pitchers at the sink, mannequins, nursery rhymes. Much more of a psychological-horror than "campy" psycho-biddy feature. The way sounds amplify during Lucy's fits, faces turn to her, confronting her, deepening her fit. It's a surprising and really great perf from Crawford. But, it slips at the end, while good fun in the reveal and cycle of you-know-what, it overexplains and dilutes what came before.

The Queen of Spades (1949) 7/10. Magnificently well made, with great attention to sounds, scrapes, clocks, wind, etc. I love the crowded visuals and the snow and the Edith Evans perf and her mountainous costumes. Mostly plays as an angled period romance, gets across its notes of greedy social climbing and secret noble history, and in the back half we get a couple spooks.  No major flaws but I didn't feel like there was much room for this to play out any other way than what's expected...