Tag Archives: 20daysofhorror2019

you don’t just pull someone’s skull apart without a little lower-arm strength: 20 days of horror update

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Although it feels as though we’ve been watching horror movies for an entire year already, we’re only half done with 20 Days of Horror. We got a bit bogged down in two of the infamous Hammer productions, Twins of Evil and the Brides of Dracula, both starring Peter Cushing. These are Brandon’s faves, excellent campy old school horror, the equivalent of a spaghetti Western.
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But now I’ve insisted that we return to the era nearest and dearest to my own heart – the ‘80’s slasher franchises.
Today’s installment is the only Halloween selection NOT to feature Michael Myers and is honestly a pretty sad specimen – except for the omnipresent Silver Shamrock jingle. John Carpenter’s intent was to make a different Halloween-themed movie each year, but after this one flopped, Michael was reinvigorated for future contributions, and aren’t we all glad.
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Halloween III: Season of the Witch is overly long and has a lot of great snarkable moments. I can easily see that it was inspiration for at least some aspects of Stranger Things. There are also some cool references, such as the glimpses of the original Halloween – which is one of my all time favorite scary movies. Jamie Lee Curtis provided the voice for the telephone operator as well as the voice over the intercom in the curfew announcements. Just be warned if you watch this extremely odd contribution to the Halloween franchise, that, in addition to no Michael Myers, there’s only a fleeting reference to a witch quite near the end. No actual witch. Suffice it to say that the plot does not hold together very well. From IMDb:
“During a panel at 2013’s 35 Years of Terror Halloween convention in Pasadena, CA, Tommy Lee Wallace was asked by the moderator to explain, as the sole credited screenwriter, the connection between Stonehenge, Ireland, robots, and laser beams that both melt flesh and produce/conjure bugs and snakes from a human body. Wallace’s entire response was “It’s magic, man.””
10. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
9. The Brides of Dracula (1960)
8. Twins of Evil (1971)
7. Black Christmas (1974)
6. Season of the Witch (1972)
5. The Visit (2015)
4. Amityville Horror (1979)
3. C.H.U.D (1984)
2. The Changeling (1980)
1. Village of the Damned (1960)

supernatural or a bad clam?: 20 days of horror update

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Hoo boy, we’ve seen some things during this year’s 20 Days of Horror, but today’s check-in spotlights yet another selection featuring interesting hair choices (James Brolin’s blowout that gradually degenerates into greasy limpness, reflecting his descent into madness; and Margot Kidder’s pigtails which have no symbolic meaning except possibly to foreshadow her future tragic mental illness) and memorable lines:
 
Rod Steiger: “I AM NOT SOME PINK CHEEKED SEMINARIAN WHO DOESN’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SUPERNATURAL AND A BAD CLAM!”
 
“Chiller about a family who are terrorised by supernatural forces when they move into a new house in New York State which was the scene of a recent mass killing and the home of an 18th-century satanist. When swarms of flies appear from nowhere and the pipes and walls begin to ooze slime and blood, they call on a local priest to exorcise the evil spirits.”
You guessed it – Day 4, Amityville Horror!
7. Black Christmas (1974)
6. Season of the Witch (1972)
5. The Visit (2015)
4. Amityville Horror (1979)
3. C.H.U.D (1984)
2. The Changeling (1980)
1. Village of the Damned (1960)

get those flamethrowers working: 20 days of horror update

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We’re rolling with our 20 Days of Horror selections!
C.H.U.D (1984)
Synopsis: “A New York City police officer and a homeless shelter manager join forces to investigate a series of disappearances, and discover the missing are taken by humanoid monsters that live below the city.”
Review: Exceptionally disappointing except for Daniel Stern’s comically bad acting and hair. Also features a consistently earnest John Heard who even in 1984 had chops. 40 minutes in before we saw anything of the CHUD. Brandon says that if he and his childhood best friend had snuck into a theater in 1984 to watch this they would have been pissed.
The Changeling (1980)
Synopsis: “Composer John Russell (George C. Scott) is vacationing with his family when a car accident kills his wife and daughter. Distraught with grief, Russell leaves his home in New York City for a giant, secluded house near Seattle. Soon Russell starts to feel the presence of a ghost, a boy who drowned in the bathtub there.”
Review: Not so bad. We spent a long time discussing how old George C. Scott might have been in this movie – anywhere between 45 and 75.
Village of the Damned (1960)
Synopsis: ““One day the peaceful village of Midwich is cast into a mysterious sleep for several hours, but with no obvious consequences, until soon all the women of child-bearing age turn out to be pregnant. Their children are all born at the same time, and grow quickly into very spooky young people.”
Review: The kids were exceptionally annoying and there aren’t really any famous people in this film, except for one that Brandon recognized. The adult actors were British and there were several scenes in which they dressed for dinner. The best thing this film had going for it was the length. Can we please get back to one hour and seventeen minute run times??

20 days of horror

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Last year, irked by the constant advertising (in September) for “25 Days of Christmas” holiday viewing, I reacted by launching a minor watching campaign of my own. “25 Days of Horror” was born mostly on Facebook as I attempted to plow through almost an entire month of scary movies. Brandon was still in Chicago for his job, so most of my watching was done by myself or after Miss L went to bed. I didn’t make it through 25 films, but I did get to rewatch some classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Thing, and Children of the Corn, to name a few. By the end of the month I was feeling a little weird. 😉

This year, I have Brandon here with me and we’ve reduced our goal from 25 to 20. I think this is more manageable and a better way to stay sane.

I’ll be keeping track of our viewing and short reviews of each of our chosen films.
Happy viewing and Happy October!