Horrortober 2022 #5 & #6

Hellraiser (2022)

I don’t want to be involved in these annoying peoples lives for 2 hours. The main character is an idiot, and it takes so long for the Cenobites to turn up. There’s no reason for her and the guy to instantly go straight to “we must investigate who owns the warehouse” etc… as a solution, rather than just throw the box away. Everything but the Cenobite costumes is stupid. Yelling “I dont know, I dont know” and “What the hell is going on” and being hysterical isn’t suspense. Everything about the characters and almost everything they do is pointless except for occasional out of place seemingly random choices needed to keep connecting the most basic “story” elements together. The twist that the BF is working for the box “owner” is brutal to experience after almost an hour, such a tired cliche. It takes so long to get to the Cenobites. Jesus it just wont fucking end. The only good parts are when the Cenobites are on screen, and even then they are too often wasted. This needs to be cut down, edited and re-released 100% focused on the Cenobites.

I guess its not really THAT bad, its just disappointing.

1.5/5

★★

Wikipedia
IMDB

Anatomia Extinction (1995)

The film starts with train station announcements and new presentations about overpopulation and city congestion, and murders. A businessman witnesses a murder and is then chased around by a strange mutant guy who “recruits” him to be an “Engineer” by infecting him with something (?). The businessman starts being wracked with pains and receiving hallucinations and messages telling him to “reduce the rats” and “be the engineer”. H meets the mutant guy again at a crime scene. The news on his TV is now overtly discussing murdering people as population control. He keeps having fits and freakouts, fighting the urges to kill? He has an altercation with the police shooting one of them and getting shot himself before killing the other with some kind of mutant weapon that his arm has turned into. He steals their car and goes on a killing rampage. Cops chase him to his home and there is a confrontation. He destroys them all, and when we see him next he is all fucked up and mutated. We then see scenes of other mutated Engineers around the city. We then suddenly see him and he is fully normal, walking in a crowd, he looks at his normal un-mutated hand and smiles. A voice announced “The Latest Congestion Update…” and the film ends.

A highly stylised film with almost zero dialogue. Its very low budget, but still visually nice. Different and very 90’s Japan. Remade as Tokyo Gore Police in 2008. 2/5

★★

IMDB

Films

Horrortober 2022 #3 & #4

Hider in the House (1989)

Gary Busey lives in the walls of someones house!

This is a psychological thriller (that counts as scary I guess) staring Gary Busey, Mimi Rodgers and Michael McKean. Jake Busey appears in scenes where Garys character is a child.

It sounds like it should be hilarious, but it isn’t.

Gary escapes from a mental institution and starts living in the attic of an unoccupied house. Then a family moves in. He spies on them, kills their dog, and starts interacting with the wife. Gary ends up trying to kill the family members and is killed by the cops. Its a TV movie and its not great. 1.5/5.

★★

IMDB
Wikipedia

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

The best of the Halloween sequels, and one of the best horror films ever.

I have seen this before but not for a long time. It isn’t directed by John Carpenter like 1 and 2 (Carpenter and Debra Hill produced, Carpenter also co-wrote the music), and there’s no Michael Myers. How is this even a sequel?

A toy company, Silver Shamrock, makes a Halloween mask that every child wants. Each mask contains a microchip with a piece of Stonehenge in it. Upon watching a special commercial to be aired on TV anyone wearing the masks will die and insects will escape their body killing anyone nearby. The masks creator wants to sacrifice children like ancient Celtic pagans did, presumably to gain powers!

Just insane stuff! 4/5

★★★★

IMDB
Wikipedia

Films

Horrortober 2022 #1 & #2

HauntedWeen (1991)

“Nobody knows it really happening – People are dying, and people are laughing.” – IMDB review

Some kid named Eddie Burber accidentally kills a girl in a Halloween haunted house run by his family and has to leave town. Skip to 20 years later, he is living in the woods with his mother who suddenly dies and he decides its time to return home. A fraternity in the town need to raise money to pay for fees and they decide to use the “Old Burber House” to host a Halloween haunted house event, the same house where Eddie killed the girl 20 years earlier. A stranger appears at the fraternity and says they should use the house and gives them a key.
During the Halloween event Eddie turns up in a mask and starts executing the fraternity members running and acting in the event, and none of the townsfolk attending know its real.
A surviving fraternity member eventually kills Eddie.

Its rather low budget, the generic characters and setting don’t require any fleshing out, the general idea is a good one, and it goes rather fast for 127mins. Its still only a 2/5 being generous.

★★

IMDB

Malignant (2021)

“In 1993, Dr. Florence Weaver and her colleagues Victor Fields and John Gregory treat a violent, disturbed patient named Gabriel at Simion Research Hospital. Gabriel is able to control electricity and broadcast his thoughts via speakers. He kills several staff members. Dr. Weaver determines that he is a lost cause and the “cancer“ must be removed.

27 years later…” – Wikipedia

Yeah there’s a weird and convoluted storyline. The important parts are all the weird WTF moments, the straight acting, the genre and style mashing, the style choices generally, the creepy shit, and the insane action scenes and horror. It feels kind of like a collage of genres and styles from different films, that meld and even overlap each other even in the same scenes. It feels ridiculous and that is in no way a bad thing.
Argento films, Homicide: Life on the Street, Possession, Blade, Exorcist 2? I have no idea…

It makes no sense to watch a film like this and rate it low for being this ridiculous, that’s not how the Horror genre works. And the more confusing and ridiculous it got the more I liked it.
Its a fucked up ride. 3.5/5.
(The “Where is my mind” musical stabs were the dumbest part)

★★★★

Wikipedia
IMDB

Event, Films

Horrortober 2022

As per previous years: Watching 31 Horror/Spooky/Scary type films from any genre during October.
31 total films, but not trying too hard for 1 per day, because that actually sucks to keep up.

Previous watch lists HERE

Films

Some recent films

Critters (1986)
Campfire Tales (1997)
Blood Beat (1982)
Ogroff (Mad Mutilator) (1982)

Critters is a great horror/monster movie. There’s the whole Sc-Fi space bounty hunter element I always forget about, but its basically a slasher film with multiple little monsters instead of one killer. Its essentially set in one house (except for the roving bounty hunter subplot), and involves a family defending themselves from the creatures. Its an enjoyable, humorous and rather strange film.

Campfire Tales is a 3 part horror anthology of common tropes/urban legends with time travel (I guess you would call it that?) elements. Its not bad, the stories, structure and ideas are interesting, but overall its a bit slow/dry. A product of its time, the Scream era.

Blood Beat is primo weird garbage. According to Wikipedia “The plot focuses on a young couple attending a family gathering for Christmas in a rural home when a spirit wearing samurai armor begins killing members of the family—two of whom have psychic abilities—and their neighbors.”, Around what might be a simple if boring horror film with psychic elements is a bizarre mix of disjointed scenes, weird dialogue and strange special effects. And that’s what makes it interesting, if you can put up with it for 86 minutes.

Ogroff is the movie version of a low quality death metal demo cassette. There’s probably a better quality version out there, but I don’t want to see it. I have no idea what is going on in this movie except random slayings. Its poorly filmed, its often too dark or muddy to make out what is happening, and just generally confusing. I don’t think there is any actual narrative here. The off kilter synth sound track is great. There is almost zero dialogue. Its strangely charming, I loved it.
Looks like someone released some/all of the soundtrack: https://specific.bandcamp.com/album/ogroff-aka-mad-mutilator

Films

Horrortober #4 & #5

The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)

The Giant Spider Invasion is a 1975 Science Fiction/Horror film directed by Bill Rebane (who’s films we will watch more of this month). Starts out pretty slow but when the giant spiders appear, which they are very sparse in showing, it gets pretty fun. 2 stars because they just dont show the spiders enough.
Wikipedia

★★

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

The Devil Rides Out, known as The Devil’s Bride in the United States, is a 1968 British horror film, based on the 1934 novel of the same name. Christopher Lee! Goat sacrifice! Lots of slow talking! Its a Hammer film. Pretty good as a late night film, 2.5 stars.
Wikipedia

★★★

Films

Horrortober #3

Strange Behavior (1981)

Strange Behavior (also known as Dead Kids) is a 1981 slasher film. “The film is considered a seminal work of New Zealand cinema, being the first horror film produced in the country”. This is also a Section 3 Video Nasty (under the name Dead Kids). Soundtrack is by Tangerine Dream but the song Shivers by The Birthday Party (still The Boys Next Door at the time) appears at 26:23min.
Its “small, original and offbeat” like many Aus and NZ films from around that period, it has an interesting, suspenseful story line that builds in strangeness and is deeper than you initially expect, what slasher moments there are are decent, and the mad science is creepy.
It is essentially a Sci Fi/mad scientist and suspense film with some slasher elements. I give it 2.5/5 because yes it is good, it is worth watching, though it is unfortunately a bit sparse and slow at times.
Wikipedia

★★★

Films

Horrortober #1 & #2

1) Werewolves on Wheels (1971)

This is pretty much a road trip biker movie of its time with a supernatural and werewolf twist. Bikers come across a satanic cult who turn one of the bikers girlfriends into a werewolf, she turns her boyfriend into a werewolf, and as the group continue to travel the werewolf couple slowly pick off the other bikers. Eventually they transform in front of the remaining bikers who kill them. And then there is a very strange ending. Great film.
Wikipedia

★★★★

2) The Hidden (1987)

The Hidden is a 1987 SciFi/Horror film staring Kyle MacLachlan.
“A cop and an FBI agent race for answers after law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals.” IT WAS ALIENS!
This was OK, it didn’t suck, but it wasn’t a 2.5/5 or a 3.
Wikipedia

★★

Films

Halloween Horror #31

#31 – He Never Died

He Never Died is a 2015 Canadian/American horror comedy film… stars Henry Rollins as an immortal, cannibalistic loner who has withdrawn from society to protect both himself and others. Wikipedia

Jack’s in a rut. Depression and severe anti-social behavior has whittled down his existence to sleeping and watching television. He spends his days in a diner, playing church bingo and sleeping. When some hired thugs show up Jack’s life is stirred up and the question of his existence comes to light. IMDB

Strange film. Oddly funny, oddly dark. 3 stars.

★★★

Bonus – She Never Died (2019)

This 2019 “sequel” is basically a riff on the original story wise.

The movie is intended as a follow up sister sequel to Krawczyk’s 2015 movie He Never Died, which starred Henry Rollins, and is set within the same universe. Krawczyk had initially intended the 2015 film to be expanded into a miniseries and follow-up film, but repurposed the script into She Never Died after the endeavor was cancelled. Wikipedia

This, like the original, was also good, it did feel a bit more like an extended episode 1 of a TV series, and ends in a way that is open for a sequel at least. 3 stars again.

★★★

Films

Halloween Horror #29 & #30

#29 – Toolbox Murders (2004)

Toolbox Murders is a 2004 American slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper… It is a remake of the 1978 film The Toolbox Murders and was produced by the same people behind the original. The film is centered on the occupants of an apartment who are stalked and murdered by a masked killer. Wikipedia

Its a moderate slasher film with too much character development. There’s some interesting gore effects. It is OK.
2 stars.

★★

#30 – The Toolbox Murders (1978)

The Toolbox Murders is a 1978 American slasher film. It follows a series of violent murders centered around a Los Angeles apartment complex, followed by the kidnapping and disappearance of a teenage girl who resides there. Wikipedia

As above but made in 1978, far less character development, poorer acting. Stars Cameron Mitchell which is a bonus. 2 stars.

★★